dice

English

Wikipedia

A picture of two wooden dice.

Pronunciation

• enPR: dīs, IPA: /daɪs/, SAMPA: /daIs/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪs

Noun

dice (singular die)

1. one of the two plurals of die
   • 1972, (translation), Einstein: The Life and Times, Avon Books

     I, at any rate, am convinced that He is not playing at dice.

     (Original: Jedenfalls bin ich überzeugt, dass der Alte nicht würfelt. December 4, 1926. Albert Einstein. Born-Einstein Letters. Trans. Irene Born. New York: Walker and Company, 1971.)

2. (colloquial, nonstandard) An alternative singular of die, for such meanings of die as have the plural dice.
   • 1980, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, “The Winner Takes It All”, Super Trouper, Polar Music

     The gods may throw a dice / Their minds as cold as ice

Translations

polyhedron used in games of chance — see die

Usage notes

The game of dice is singular. Thus in "Dice is a game played with dice," the first occurrence is singular, the second occurrence is plural. Otherwise, the singular usage is considered incorrect by many authorities. However, it should be noted that some authoritative sources state that “In modern standard English, the singular die (rather than dice) is uncommon. Dice is used for both the singular and the plural.”

Derived terms

• loaded dice

References

• For examples of the usage of this term see the citations page.

Verb

dice (third-person singular simple present dices, present participle dicing, simple past and past participle diced)

1. (intransitive) To play dice.
   • 1999, George RR Martin, A Clash of Kings, Bantam 2011, p. 407:

     Tyrion found Timmett dicing with his Burned Men in the barracks.

2. (transitive) To cut into small cubes.

Translations

to cut into small cubes

Dutch: in blokjes snijden (nl) Finnish: kuutioida (fi), leikata kuutioiksi (fi) German: in Würfel schneiden, würfeln

Italian: fare a dadini (it), tagliare a dadini (it) Polish: kroić w kostkę Russian: нарезать кубиками

Related terms

• dicey

See also

• no dice
• dice with death
• percentile dice

Anagrams

• cedi
• iced

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Interlingua

Verb

dice

1. present of dicer
2. imperative of dicer

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Italian

Verb form

dice (infinitive dire)

1. (Third-person singular present tense of dire) Says.

Anagrams

• cedi

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Latin

Verb

dīce

1. second-person singular present active imperative of dīcō
   1. "say thou, speak thou, talk thou"
   2. "affirm thou, declare thou, state thou"
   3. "call thou"

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Spanish

Verb

dice (infinitive decir)

1. Formal second-person singular (usted) present indicative form of decir.
2. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present indicative form of decir.
   • (“says”): 1615, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quijote de la Mancha, Tomo II, Capítulo XXXII (1856 ed.):

     Digo, señor Don Quijote, dijo la Duquesa, que en todo cuanto vuesa merced dice va con pie de plomo, y como suele decirse, con la sonda en la mano; y que yo desde aqui adelante creeré, [...] que hay Dulcinea en el Toboso, [...] merecedora que un tal caballero como es el señor Don Quijote la sirva, que es lo mas que puedo ni sé encarecer.

     “I say, Sir Don Quixote,” said the duchess, “that in all your mercy says, he goes with leaden feet, and as the saying goes, with sounding plummet in hand; and that I henceforth will believe, [...] that there is a Dulcinea in El Toboso, [...] deserving of such a knight as Sir Don Quixote in her service, which is the highest praise that I can give her.”

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Tarantino

Noun

dice

1. ten

Noun

dice

1. ten