to risk money or possessions on the result of something such as a game or a race, when you do not know for certain what the result will be

赌博;

Their religion forbids them to drink or gamble.

他们的宗教禁止饮酒和赌博。

Jack loves gambling on the horses.

杰克喜欢赌马。

to do something that involves a lot of risk, and that will not succeed unless things happen the way you would like them to

投机，冒险，碰运气:

They're gambling on Johnson being fit for Saturday's game.

他们把赌注押在约翰逊身上，指望星期六的比赛他能够出场。

Potter gambled everything on his new play being a hit.

波特孤注一掷，指望他的新戏会轰动。

She was gambling that he wouldn't read it too carefully.

她抱着侥幸的心理，希望他不会看得太仔细。

Stevens was a compulsive gambler .

史蒂文斯是一个嗜赌成癖的赌徒。

an action or plan that involves a risk but that you hope will succeed

冒险，碰运气:

It was a big gamble for her to leave the band and go solo.

她离开乐队搞独唱是冒了很大风险的。

The gamble on the harvest had paid off (=succeeded).

收成这一博我们算是赌赢了。

Ellen had to admit the gamble had paid off.

埃伦不得不承认这一把赌赢了。

In a depressed market, we cannot afford to take a gamble on a new product.

在市场不景气的情形下，我们不能冒险开发新的产品。