double down

English

Alternative forms

• double-down

Verb

to double down (third-person singular simple present doubles down, present participle doubling down, simple past and past participle doubled down)

1. (idiomatic, gambling) To double one's wager.
   • 1999, Frederick Barthelme and Steven Barthelme, Double Down: Reflections on Gambling and Loss, ISBN 9780395954294, page 66:

     He'd bet three thousand and double down to six thousand, all of it hanging on the turn of the next card.

2. (idiomatic, by extension) To double or significantly increase a risk, investment, or other commitment.
   • 2007, Peter Beinart, "The Kosovo Conundrum," Time, 12 April:

     Hillary Clinton, John Edwards and Barack Obama all want to get out of Iraq. They all want to double down in Afghanistan.

Quotations

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