play Russian roulette

to take foolish and dangerous risks She accused the hospital of playing Russian roulette with the health of poor children.

Etymology: based on the literal meaning of Russian roulette (a dangerous game of chance in which you hold a gun containing one bullet to your head and shoot, winning if the bullet does not come out)

play Russian roulette

to take big risks, in a way which is very dangerous

Usage notes: Russian roulette is a very dangerous game where players aim a gun containing one bullet at their own heads.

(often + with ) I'm not willing to play Russian roulette with people's lives by drinking and driving.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Ettie	ET-ee	English
Fedde	FED-də	Frisian
Petru	-	Romanian, Corsican, Old Church Slavic
Jeremias	ye-re-MEE-ahs (German), YE-re-mee-ahs (Finnish)	German, Portuguese, Finnish
Acres	['eikəz]
SevİL	-	Turkish