Find the word definition

Crossword clues for parlay

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
parlay
verb
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ He is a moderate who won election and later was able to parlay that experience into national exposure as a Washington outsider.
▪ His major was economics, but there is no record of any attempt to parlay it into a career.
▪ In many states, liberalized workers' compensation programs have permitted unscrupulous employees to parlay minor ailments into early retirements.
▪ Workers that have developed unique skills that they parlay into jobs or their own businesses have enjoyed more success.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
parlay

parlay \par"lay\ v. t.

  1. To wager the winnings plus the initial stake of one bet on a subsequent wager, or to engage in a series of such increased wagers.

    Note: This is the characteristic act in a common betting system used by gamblers to try to achieve a large win from a small initial stake. Statistically, it is similar to betting a small stake on a game with a large payoff and a proportionately small chance of winning.

  2. To exploit success in one endeavor so as to achieve greater success in subsequent endeavors.

  3. Fig., to transform a gain into something of greater value.

parlay

parlay \par"lay\ n. The act of betting the winnings from a prior bet, plus the original stake, on a subsequent bet; the second or later such bet in a series; also, a series of such bets, with the stakes for later bets coming from the winnings of earlier bets.

Note: This is the characteristic act in a common betting system used by gamblers to try to achieve a large win from a small initial stake. Statistically, it is similar to betting a small stake on a game with a large payoff, but with a proportionately small chance of winning.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
parlay

1701, parloi, term in the card game faro, from French paroli, from Italian parole (Neapolitan paroli) "words, promises," plural of parolo (see parole). Meaning "exploit to advantage" is from 1942.

Wiktionary
parlay

n. Such a bet or series of bets. vb. 1 (context transitive English) To carry forward the stake and winnings from a bet onto a subsequent wager. 2 (context by extension English) To increase. 3 To speak about peace. To have peace talks. See also: powwow. 4 (context transitive English) To convert into something better.

WordNet
parlay

v. stake winnings from one bet on a subsequent wager [syn: double up]

Wikipedia
Parlay (gambling)

A parlay, accumulator, or combo bet is a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers and is dependent on all of those wagers winning together. The benefit of the parlay is that there are much higher payoffs than placing each individual bet separately since the difficulty of hitting it is much higher. If any of the bets in the parlay lose, the entire parlay loses. If any of the plays in the parlay ties, or "pushes", the parlay reverts to a lower number of teams with the odds reducing accordingly.

Parlay

Parlay may refer to:

  • Parlay (gambling), a gambling term
  • Parlay Entertainment, Canadian-based developer of online bingo software
  • Parlay Group, a technical industry consortium
  • Parlay X, a set of standard Web service APIs for the telephone network

Usage examples of "parlay".

Spyder Nielsen had parlayed his ski jumping into a reputation exceeded only by his fortune, and Trudi Can-delaria, by escaping the conviction for his murder, had fallen heir to it all.

More to the point, because Wal-Mart is so big and so obsessively focused on parlaying low prices into market share, it has forced both its competitors and its vendors to dance to its single-minded tune, dragging down wages with prices.

A month earlier he had parlayed the preliminary hearing in the Raynard Waits case into daily headlines and top-of-the-broadcast reports.

When it came, Evelyn parlayed it into a seat on the board of Global Communications, Ltd.

The call-girl who had sold her story to the press about their sexual escapades had been paid to recant her version of events, and the whole thing had been parlayed into a photo opportunity featuring Trevor Colson, stalwart Conservative MP, hugging the loyal wife who stood by him.

But then English bad not been his major-it was physicsand later be parlayed that degree into a doctorate in chemistry.

Dave DePugh and Janie, Sol Slotnick, the kidnap--some four-orfive-or-six-horse parlay buzz-bombed my brain.

Within three years he had parlayed his discovery into a Fortune 500 company and added the feather of corporate raider to his cap.

Nor was there any polite parlaying, though Drehkos had attempted such, sending a man be considered expendable, the abbot, Djohsehfos, whose monastery he had sacked.

He had told Colonel Phoenix that he still dreamed of parlaying a Creek Bend High School MVP football trophy into an NFL halfback career, after he had paid his dues to Uncle Sam.

Nor was there any polite parlaying, though Drehkos had attempted such, sending a man he considered expendable, the abbot, Djohsehfos, whose monastery he had sacked.

A service brat, Gina had attended schools in Texas, Virginia, Texas, California, Massachusetts, and Texas before parlaying a tennis scholarship into a business degree at Arizona State.

Old Parlays selling out, and the buzzards are gathering—old Parlay who was a stronger man in his day than any of them and who will see most of them dead yet.

The wreck of Parlays house was picked up, hurled into the lagoon, and blown out upon them.

It was almost like the card games in Hawaii and the football parlays in Las Vegas.