Meanings
keno1
alternative keeno · alternative quino
- uncountableA gambling game, a variety of lotto, played with balls or knobs, numbered, and cards also numbered.
Memories of this night are extremely hazy. All I have, for guide-pegs, is a pocketful of keno cards and cocktail napkins, all covered with scribbled notes.
1971, Hunter S. Thompson, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Harper Perennial, published 2005, page 411 more example
“So, tell me about your prospects. You a good gambler?” “Well, ma'am, I--” “What's your game? Bingo? Keno? Wait a minute. You don't have your own body.” “No, but I control this arm.” “Slots player, huh? Sorry, but I think I can do better.” “Wait! Come back, uh, darling.”
1999 December 12, J. Stewart Burns, “A Head in the Polls” (17:42 from the start), in Futurama, season 2, episode 3, spoken by Petunia (Tress MacNeille)
Keno2
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna game in which numbered balls are drawn at random and players cover the corresponding numbers on their cards
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
keno · noun
- Frenchquine
- Englishkeno
From French quine, with reference to a set of five winning lottery numbers.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Keno · proper noun
From keno (“gambling game”). The hill and region are named after the city.
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with keno
Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
keno. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/keno
“keno.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/keno. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “keno,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/keno.
Source: keno on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.