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ames ace

Games
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Ames ace, or ambs-ace, is the double ace, the lowest throw of two dice, associated with bad luck.

Detailed Definition
Ames ace appears in poetry as a potent symbol of the worst possible outcome and the misfortune of the lowest score. In early modern verse it represents utter failure or the devil's throw. Poets invoke ames ace to illustrate themes of catastrophic chance, the depth of bad luck, and the cultural weight of the double ace as an omen of ruin.
Example
Example in poetry:
Ames ace, the double one, falls like the lowest throw of misfortune in dice poetry; Chaucer’s gamblers dread the ames ace that empties the purse at a single cast; Poets use ames ace for the moment when every hope collapses into the worst possible pair; “The dice showed ames ace and the night turned black” demonstrates pure bad luck; Verse teaches that ames ace is both the numerical bottom and a cultural synonym for ruin.
Additional Notes
Ames ace, the double one, is the lowest possible throw and therefore functions in poetry as a concentrated emblem of pure misfortune. The older spelling “ambs-ace” appears in early modern texts and can signal period authenticity. Instructors may pair the term with snake eyes to show continuity of dice slang across centuries. Related concepts include the general symbolism of the ace as both high and low. The phrase is especially effective when a poet wishes to collapse an entire narrative of hope into a single, irreversible instant of bad luck.
Also Known As
ambs-ace ambsace two aces
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