Meaning
To rig a situation in advance so that a particular outcome is assured, usually against someone: Farlex defines it as arranging matters so the outcome is predetermined to put one at a disadvantage. The image is the oldest cheating trick in gaming - dice weighted so the desired throw comes up - applied to elections, courts, markets and hiring. Often passive: the dice are loaded against someone. Loaded dice as a noun phrase covers both the physical crooked dice and the figurative advantage. Wiktionary has no entry for the verb phrase itself; its loaded-dice entry carries the figurative record. Regional use: General English.
Origin
From the dice-sharp's practice of weighting dice so they favour chosen faces - Wikipedia's Dice article carries a section on how loaded dice are made. The figurative use is older than its modern political currency: Wiktionary's entry for loaded dice records an 1860 use in American political argument - 'Slave states have always won. They have played with loaded dice - loaded with Slavery' - and defines the figurative sense as an advantage obtained by manipulating rules or insider influence. Farlex's idiom guide prints the modern examples: an election in which 'the military has loaded the dice so that they'll remain in power', and a court fight against a company whose power and influence 'have already loaded the dice against you'. The passive cousin - the dice are loaded against someone - is now at least as common as the active verb.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- loaded dice
- the dice are loaded
Usage Examples
- The selection panel was packed with his allies, and the dice were loaded from the start.
- Critics said the consultation had loaded the dice in favour of the developer's scheme.
- With registration rules like these, the dice are loaded against first-time voters.