one-arm bandit

one-arm bandit

A slot machine designed for gambling in which you pull down a lever on one side that generates a random combination of three shapes, which may or may not award the player money depending on the combination received. After my wife lost her entire month's wages to the one-arm bandits in Atlantic City, we've decided to stay away from casinos altogether.
See also: bandit
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
See also:
  • one-armed bandit
  • may as well
  • may/might as well
  • come what may
  • vel
  • vel non
  • take up (the) cudgels against (someone or something)
  • take up the cudgels
  • sell in May and go away
  • sell in May and stay away
References in periodicals archive
Makers of video poker machines and electronic one-arm bandits count coins or tokens with the help of products from Asahi Seiko USA Inc.
LATCHED IN AND READY To ROLL
The man behind the venture insists the cash machine will be far enough from the one-arm bandits to give punters the chance for reflection.
OurSay
CASH has been stolen from one-arm bandits in a Nuneaton pub.
Cash raid at pub
Lewis knows it too - which is why he has not been distracted by the lure of the 11-acre artificial beach he can see from his 63rd-floor penthouse in the Mandalay Bay hotel, nor by the relentless repeats of the theme tune to Titanic which competes for ears alongside the relentless crunching of a million one-arm bandits.
No distractions as Lewis aims to reclaim titles
"The other time there was a group of Fianna Fail councillors lobbying us about the law on one-arm bandits.
Bertie's anger at bribery attempts
Most visitors head for the opulent hotel-casinos with ranks of glittering, one-arm bandits in halls of pale Italian marble.
Vegas comes up trumps!
And if the new bar fitting proves as popular as one-arm bandits, the scheme will be used in pubs across the country.
THE BAR TENDER; Pub to put in cash machine