An old and evocative slang term for dice — the small numbered cubes used in gambling games. The name captures the deep suspicion that religious and moralist traditions held toward gambling: dice were literally the devil's tools, instruments of chance that could ruin lives and corrupt souls. The imagery of bones is doubly apt, since early dice were often carved from animal bones. Today the phrase surfaces in historical contexts, period fiction, and as a dramatic way to refer to dice in any setting.
The old gambler rattled the devil's bones in his cup before making his final throw.
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(slang) used for gambling.
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Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
See all Regional & Other slang on Slangora.