Dice

Pronunciation

• enPR: dÄ«s, IPA: /daɪs/
• Rhymes: -aɪs

Origin

• Middle English dys, plural of dy.
• The voiceless /s/ was most likely retained because the word felt like a collective term rather than a plural form (compare pence). The spelling dice is a result of the pronunciation.
• See die Etymology 2.

Full definition of dice

Noun

1. Plural of die
2. (uncountable) Gaming with one or more dice.
• 1899, Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness, Or think of a decent young citizen in a toga—perhaps too much dice, you know—coming out here in the train of some prefect, or tax-gatherer, or trader even, to mend his fortunes.
• 1964, Theodosius Grigorievich Dobzhansky, Heredity and the nature of man, On the other hand, evolution is not a matter of chance, even in the sense in which a game of dice is a game of chance.
• 1972, (translation), Einstein: The Life and Times, Avon BooksI, 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.)
• 1990, Ivar Ekeland, Mathematics and the Unexpected, The problem is that no one can throw a die twice in precisely the same way, and this is why dice is a game of chance and not a skill.
3. (countable, proscribed by some) A die.
• 1980, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, “The Winner Takes It All”, Super Trouper, Polar MusicThe gods may throw a dice
  Their minds as cold as ice
• 1945, Lawrence Durrell, Prospero's Cell: A Guide to the Landscape and Manners of the Island of Corfu, A white house set like a dice on a rock already venerable with the scars of wind and water.
• 2009, Hubert L. Dreyfus, Mark A. Wrathall, A Companion to Phenomenology and Existentialism, When we see a dice, we see an object which has six sides, some of which can be seen from where we are, others can be seen if we twist it or move around it.
4. (uncountable, formerly countable, cooking) That which has been diced.Cut onions, carrots and celery into medium dice.
• 1782, Tobias George Smollett, The history and adventures of the renowned Don Quixote, If your worship is inclined to take a small draught of good wine, though not very cool, I have here a calabash full of the best, and some dices of Tronchon cheese

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 The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Judy Pearsall, Patrick Hanks (1998) states that “In modern standard English, the singular die (rather than dice) is uncommon. Dice is used for both the singular and the plural.”

Die is predominant among tabletop gamers.

Derived terms

Verb

1. (intransitive) To play dice.
• unknown date ShakespeareI ... diced not above seven times a week.
• 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.
3. (transitive) To ornament with squares, diamonds, or cubes.

Derived terms

• dice with death

Anagrams

• cedi
• iced