Russian roulette
Russian roulette proper noun: a deadly game in which a person loads a single bullet in the cylinder of a revolver, spins the cylinder so that the bullet's location is unknown, points the muzzle at his/her head, and pulls the trigger. In its most lethal form, played by multiple participants each of whom takes a turn until the weapon discharges.
Proper noun
Russian roulette (uncountable)
- A deadly game in which a person loads a single bullet in the cylinder of a revolver, spins the cylinder so that the bullet's location is unknown, points the muzzle at his/her head, and pulls the trigger. In its most lethal form, played by multiple participants each of whom takes a turn until the weapon discharges.
- Any activity, especially a needless one, that carries a high risk of death or disaster.
Russian roulette meaning in Arabic, Persian and Vietnamese
Russian roulette in Arabic
- deadly game with revolver and random spinning
- رُولِيت رُوسِيّ rulit rūsiyy
Russian roulette in Persian
- deadly game with revolver and random spinning
- رولت روسی rulet rusi
Russian roulette in Vietnamese
- deadly game with revolver and random spinning
- cò quay Nga
Forms of Russian roulette
| alternative form | rush and roulette |
|---|
Origin of Russian roulette
From roulette, a game of chance involving a revolving wheel. The first description is apparently in "The Fatalist," an 1840 short story by Russian writer Mikhail Lermontov.
Questions about Russian roulette
- What does Russian roulette mean?
- Russian roulette means a deadly game in which a person loads a single bullet in the cylinder of a revolver, spins the cylinder so that the bullet's location is unknown, points the muzzle at his/her head, and pulls the trigger. In its most lethal form, played by multiple participants each of whom takes a turn until the weapon discharges.
- What is Russian roulette in Arabic?
- Russian roulette in Arabic is رُولِيت رُوسِيّ (rulit rūsiyy). See Russian roulette meaning in Arabic.
- What part of speech is Russian roulette?
- Russian roulette is a proper noun.
Words near Russian roulette in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: Russian roulette (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-Russian roulette.ogg.
Cite this entry: “Russian roulette.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/russian_roulette. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.