one-armed bandit



one-armed bandit

A slot machine, as in It's amazing how many people think they can make money playing a one-armed bandit. This term refers to both appearance and function: the operating lever looks like an arm, and the machine in effect robs players, since it "wins" and keeps the player's money in an overwhelming majority of instances. [c. 1930]
See also: bandit

Common Names:

NameGenderPronouncedUsage
Eskarne-Basque
Alexeyah-lyek-SYAY (Russian), ah-leek-SYAY (Russian)Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian
Septembersep-TEM-bərEnglish (Rare)
PatrÍCiapə-TREE-syə (Portuguese)Slovak, Portuguese
Sacnite-Native American, Mayan
UlrichUWL-rikh (German)German, French, Ancient Germanic