▪ I. craps U.S.
[Of obscure origin, but cf. crabs, crab n.1 9.]
A game of chance played with dice; to shoot craps: to play at this game. Also Comb. (see crap n.4).
| 1843 J. H. Greene Expos. Gambling 88 The game of craps..is a game lately introduced into New Orleans, and is fully equal to faro in its..ruinous effects. 1850 Mayne Reid Rifle Rangers i. i. 9 So I stepped inter a shanty whar they wur a playin craps. 1888 St. Louis Globe Democrat (Farmer), A party of colored deck hands were playing craps. 1902 T. M. Young Amer. Cotton Industry 103 The besetting weakness of the negro is gambling, and his favourite game is ‘craps’. 1903 N.Y. Sun 12 Nov. 1 Two young toughs came along and started to shoot craps. 1922 C. E. Mulford Black Buttes ii. 20, I never saw a redhead yet that could shoot craps worth a damn. 1942 A. Huxley Let. 30 Dec. (1969) 485 All of which has taken us rather far from throwing dice; but the relation between craps and Reality is a real one. |
b. (Also crap.) A losing throw or ‘shoot’ of 2, 3, or 12 in the game of craps.
| 1890 J. P. Quinn Fools of Fortune 277 The numbers 7 and 11 are called ‘craps’. 1909 Webster s.v., The caster..loses if it [sc. his throw] is 2, 3, or 12 (called a crap). 1916 D. C. Thompson In Russia (1918) i. 3 A crap game was started. Just when you would start to reach for the money, after seeing ‘7’ or ‘11’ on the dice, the boat would give another roll and ‘craps’ would appear. |
▪ II. craps
see crap n.1, esp. sense 3.