martingale

Noun

a harness strap that connects the nose piece to the girth; prevents the horse from throwing back its head
spar under the bowsprit of a sailboat
A piece of harness used on a horse to keep it from raising its head above a desired point.
A spar, or piece of rigging that strengthens the bowsprit.
A stochastic process for which the conditional expectation of future values given the sequence of all prior values is equal to the current value.
A gambling strategy in which one doubles the stake after each loss.
A strap attached to the sword handle, preventing a sword being dropped if disarmed.

Verb

To employ the martingale strategy in gambling.

Examples

"If a gambler plays a fair game repeatedly, his payoff over time is a martingale."

Origin / Etymology

From Middle French martingale, from Occitan martegalo, feminine form of martegal, an inhabitant of Martigues, which is from Latin maritima. Alternatively from Spanish almártaga.
The meaning in gambling may come from an old usage of "à la martingale" to mean absurdly, foolishly.https://people.math.harvard.edu/~ctm/home/text/class/sem/html/home/notes/martingales/martingales.pdf

Synonyms

dolphin striker, tie-down

Scrabble Score: 13

martingale: valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
martingale: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
martingale: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 17

martingale is a valid Words With Friends word