bookmaker

IPA/ˈbʊkmeɪkə(r)/
KK[bˈʊkmekɚ]IPA/ˈbʊkmeɪkər/

bookmaker — noun

  • bookmakersingular
  • bookmakersplural

1. a person or company that accepts bets on races or other events, sets the odds, a

1.nounC1
Definition

a person or company that accepts bets on races or other events, sets the odds, and pays the winners

Example

The bookmaker cut the odds after the favourite won its last two races.

bookmaker + cut the odds

Outside the stadium, Ziad asked the bookmaker how much a ten-pound bet would pay.

ask the bookmaker how much a bet would pay

Common collocations
  • licensed bookmaker
  • online bookmaker
  • high-street bookmaker
  • set the odds
  • take bets
Synonyms
  • bookie

    informal everyday shortening, especially common in British speech

  • oddsmaker

    focuses more on setting the prices than on taking money from customers

  • betting operator

    business term for a company running a betting service

  • croupier

    casino-table worker, not a person taking race or sports bets for customers

Antonyms
  • bettor

    the person who places the money on the result

Grammar Patterns

a bookmaker

bet with a bookmaker

bookmaker + set/cut odds

Usage Note

Usually refers to the person or company taking the bet, not to the customer who risks the money. In informal British English, people often say bookie instead.

Common Mistakes

I'm the bookmaker because I put twenty pounds on Arsenal.
I'm the bettor because I put twenty pounds on Arsenal.
a bookmaker takes other people's bets instead of making a personal one.

2. a shop where people go to place bets and collect winnings on races or sports eve

2.nounC1
Definition

a shop where people go to place bets and collect winnings on races or sports events

Example

After lunch, Henrik stopped at the bookmaker's to place a small bet on the Derby.

go to the bookmaker's to place a bet

A queue formed outside the bookmaker's before the first race began.

Common collocations
  • local bookmaker's
  • outside the bookmaker's
  • window of the bookmaker's
  • go round to the bookmaker's
Synonyms
  • betting shop

    clear modern phrase for a public place where people place bets

  • sportsbook

    more common in American English, especially for a larger sports-betting venue or service

  • bookie's

    informal British way to refer to the same shop

Grammar Patterns

the bookmaker's

go to the bookmaker's

outside the bookmaker's

Usage Note

Most often appears in British English as the bookmaker's or the bookie's when speakers mean the shop itself. American English is more likely to use betting shop or sportsbook.

Common Mistakes

Let's meet at the bookmaker for coffee.
Let's meet outside the bookmaker's before the race.
when you mean the shop, English usually uses the possessive form bookmaker's.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Bookmaker is the standard term for a person or company that accepts bets and pays winners, especially in racing or sports betting. Bookie is the everyday informal shortening, so it sounds more conversational and less formal. Oddsmaker overlaps, but it focuses more narrowly on calculating the prices and chances than on taking money across the counter. Betting operator is a business label for the company running the service, whether online or in a shop. Croupier is not a true synonym: a croupier works at a casino table, dealing cards or handling chips rather than setting race odds. If Valentina walks into a high-street shop to back a horse, the person serving her is a bookmaker, or informally, a bookie.

bookmaker ↗bookieoddsmaker ↗betting operatorcroupier ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • place a bet with a bookmaker
  • go to the bookmaker's
  • collect your winnings

Prepositions

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

Bookmaker is a compound built from book and maker. In older betting language, book referred to the written record of bets and odds kept by the person taking wagers. A bookmaker was originally the person who made or kept that betting book. The word became firmly associated with organized race betting in Britain during the 1800s.

First known use

12th century

12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1