Sportsbook
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A place where a gambler can bet on various sports competitions; the company that runs it; the website that is its online presence. (Most such companies offer online betting, subject to geofencing by state.) US
"There’s a common marketing slogan in sports betting: “Sweat the game, not the payout.” In other words, when dealing with legitimate sportsbooks and not some shady neighborhood bookie, gamblers shouldn’t have to worry about getting stiffed. Yet bettors say gaming operators aren’t always living up to that promise, and some industry officials agree. Bookmakers sometimes use a clause in their fine print as an “insurance plan,” as one top regulator put it, to get out of paying big winners — and multiple industry observers say the practice is increasing."
Example
More examples"There’s a common marketing slogan in sports betting: “Sweat the game, not the payout.” In other words, when dealing with legitimate sportsbooks and not some shady neighborhood bookie, gamblers shouldn’t have to worry about getting stiffed. Yet bettors say gaming operators aren’t always living up to that promise, and some industry officials agree. Bookmakers sometimes use a clause in their fine print as an “insurance plan,” as one top regulator put it, to get out of paying big winners — and multiple industry observers say the practice is increasing."
Etymology
From sports + book.
More for "sportsbook"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.