roulette

Meanings

1. A game of chance in which a small ball is made to move round rapidly on a circle divided off into numbered (usually red and black) spaces. When the ball stops, it indicates the result of a variety of wagers permitted by the game.
2. An instance of risk-taking, especially when the downside exceeds the upside (contrary to the game of roulette where only the wager is lost).
3. A small toothed wheel used by engravers to roll over a plate in order to produce rows of dots.
4. A similar wheel used to roughen the surface of a plate, as in making alterations in a mezzotint.
5. The locus of a point on a plane curve that rolls without slipping along another fixed plane curve.
6. Any of the small incisions on a sheet of stamps, used as an alternative to perforations.
7. A cylindrical curler for the hair.

1. To separate or decorate by incisions made with a small toothed wheel.

Etymology

Borrowed from French roulette (“roulette, little wheel”). The sense "situation with a random chance of incurring serious harm" may be abstracted from Russian roulette.