dice

Etymology

* From Middle English dys, plural of dy. * The voiceless /s/ was most likely retained because the word felt like a collective term rather than a plural form (compare pence). The spelling dice is a result of the pronunciation. * See die Etymology 2.

noun

1. (uncountable) Gaming with one or more dice.
   On the other hand, evolution is not a matter of chance, even in the sense in which a game of dice is a game of chance. 1964, Theodosius Grigorievich Dobzhansky, Heredity and the nature of man
   I, at any rate, am convinced that He is not playing at dice. 1971, Albert Einstein, Max Born, Hedwig Born. Irene Born (tr.), The Born-Einstein Letters, page 91
2. 1990, Ivar Ekeland, Mathematics and the Unexpected, page 67:
3. (countable, proscribed by some) A die.
   1980, Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, “The Winner Takes It All”, Super Trouper, Polar Music The gods may throw a dice / Their minds as cold as ice
   A white house set like a dice on a rock already venerable with the scars of wind and water. 1945, Lawrence Durrell, Prospero's Cell: A Guide to the Landscape and Manners of the Island of Corfu
   When we see a dice, we see an object which has six sides, some of which can be seen from where we are, others can be seen if we twist it or move around it. 2009, Hubert L. Dreyfus, Mark A. Wrathall, A Companion to Phenomenology and Existentialism, page 106
4. (uncountable, formerly countable, cooking) That which has been diced.
   Cut onions, carrots and celery into medium dice.
   If your worship is inclined to take a small draught of good wine, though not very cool, I have here a calabash full of the best, and some dices of Tronchon cheese 1782, Tobias George Smollett, The history and adventures of the renowned Don Quixote, 5th edition, volumes 3-4, translation of original by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

noun

1. plural of die

verb

1. (intransitive) To play dice.
   Tyrion found Timmett dicing with his Burned Men in the barracks. 1999, George R.R. Martin, A Clash of Kings, Bantam, published 2011, page 407
2. (transitive) To cut into small cubes.
   And dicing Time for gladness casts a moan.... 1898, Thomas Hardy, Hap
   Dice the vegetables and heat in the double boiler with butter, pepper and salt. 1928, “Carrots and Beets in Turnip Border”, in The Ladies' Home Journal, volume 45, page 109
   But as our urban lives have grown more pressed for time, we have diced our opportunity costs finer and finer; from budgeting days or slabs of hours, we have come to rationing minutes. November 21 2019, Samanth Subramanian, “How our home delivery habit reshaped the world”, in The Guardian
3. (transitive) To ornament with squares, diamonds, or cubes.