| roulette | 1. A game of chance, in which a small ball is made to move round rapidly on a circle divided off into numbered red and black spaces, the one on which it stops indicating the result of a variety of wagers permitted by the game. 2. A small toothed wheel used by engravers to roll over a plate in order to order to produce rows of dots. A similar wheel used to roughen the surface of a plate, as in making alterations in a mezzotint. 3. <geometry> The curve traced by any point in the plane of a given curve when the latter rolls, without sliding, over another fixed curve. See Cycloid, and Epycycloid. Origin: F, properly, a little wheel or ball. See Rouleau, Roll. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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