parlay

verb

1. (ambitransitive)To carry forward the stake and winnings from a bet on to a subsequent wager or series of wagers.
2. (broadly, transitive)To increase (an asset, money, etc.) by gambling or investing in a daring manner.

   “Shall we parlay the value of our products?”

3. (broadly, transitive)To convert (a situation, thing, etc.) into something better.

   “They believe that if [Roy] Harris can maintain his standing among the leading heavyweights, they can parlay this rating with Texas enthusiasm and oil money into enticing Floyd Patterson into coming down and defending his heavyweight title against Roy.”

   “K[avalam] M[adhava] Panikkar's concept of Indian Ocean regional security, the Indian-inspired Colombo Plan, [Jawaharlal] Nehru's architectonic role in the creation of the Nasser–Nehru–Tito neutralist axis and the Bandung gambit of legitimizing China's entry into the constraints of the comity of nations were efforts to parlay general Indian weakness into strength, its positions of regional strength into hegemony, and resultant regional hegemony into parity with China in a peace of peers.”

   “Guatemala has remained a society organized to harness an impoverished, segmented rural labor force for the production of exports that a small landowning elite, in partnership with foreign commercial interests, parlays into profit in world markets.”

   “[Oliver] Stone's vision, to decode the top secret message hidden in the CIA archives, parlays conspiracy theory onto screen memory, and as he clearly hopes, into history.”

   “[Petra] Epperlein and [Michael] Tucker focus on two featherweight hopefuls: Dustin Poirier, a formidable contender who's looking to parlay a history of schoolyard violence and street-fighting into a potential career, and Albert Stainback, a more thoughtful yet more erratic and undisciplined fighter whose chief gimmick is entering the ring wearing a hat like the one Malcolm McDowell wore in A Clockwork Orange.”

4. (alt-of, alternative, intransitive)Alternative spelling of parley (“to have a discussion, especially one between enemies”).

   “"That is droll. Listen yet one time. You are very spiritual. Can you make a honorable lady of Her?" / "Don't be so malicious," says Mr. Bucket. / "Or a haughty gentleman of Him?" cries Madamoiselle, referring to Sir Leicester with ineffable disdain. "Eh! O then regard him! The poor infant! Ha! ha! ha!" / "Come, come, why this is worse Parlaying than the other," says Mr. Bucket. "Come along!"”

   “Jack "parlayed" with them until he had completed his task, and then he closed the gate in their faces.”

noun

1. A bet or series of bets where the stake and winnings are cumulatively carried forward; an accumulator.

   “GARNETT. (Sharply.) Would someone mind telling a visitor the details of this Operation Snitch? / DENNIS. Kind of a three-horse-parlay, Cliff: Posenleben, Schweinhafen … (Eyes Prescott and Jenks.) And one other.”

   “They heard the placing of bets of $1, $2 and $3 and $5 "round robin parlays" on horses with names such as Ham Bone, Little Colleen, Miss Ellaneous, Fighting Thru, Papa Charlie, Dandy Foot, William Tell, Knot Hole, Betsy Marie, Poocha and Under the Rug.”

   “The officer's affidavit was to the effect that he and another officer had made "extensive investigation of gambling operations" locally; he had information that a local printing company "printed parlay cards which were being used for betting on college and professional football games;" [...]”

   “One of the most common and important types of probability problems is what gamblers call "parlays." When you bet a parlay, you are betting on the outcome of two or more events with the stipulation that all of your selection must be right in order for you to win. [...] Most gamblers think solely of sporting events when they think of parlays. Actually, any time you figure the probability that all of a number of events (each with its own separate probability) will occur you are figuring a parlay.”