one-armed bandit
or onearm bandit
[ wuhn-ahrmd ]
/ ˈwʌnˌɑrmd /
noun Informal.
Origin of one-armed bandit
An Americanism dating back to 1935–40
Words nearby one-armed bandit
one thousand guineas,
one up,
one way or another,
one-a-cat,
one-acter,
one-armed bandit,
one-bagger,
one-base hit,
one-dimensional,
one-down,
one-eighty
British Dictionary definitions for one-armed bandit
one-armed bandit
noun
a fruit machine operated by pulling down a lever at one side
Idioms and Phrases with one-armed bandit
one-armed bandit
A slot machine, as in It's amazing how many people think they can make money playing a one-armed bandit. This term refers to both appearance and function: the operating lever looks like an arm, and the machine in effect robs players, since it “wins” and keeps the player's money in an overwhelming majority of instances. [c. 1930]