lottery
Americannoun
plural
lotteries-
a gambling game or method of raising money, as for some public charitable purpose, in which a large number of tickets are sold and a drawing is held for certain prizes.
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any scheme for the distribution of prizes by chance.
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any happening or process that is or appears to be determined by chance.
to look upon life as a lottery.
noun
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a method of raising money by selling numbered tickets and giving a proportion of the money raised to holders of numbers drawn at random
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a similar method of raising money in which players select a small group of numbers out of a larger group printed on a ticket. If a player's selection matches some or all of the numbers drawn at random the player wins a proportion of the prize fund
-
an activity or endeavour the success of which is regarded as a matter of fate or luck
Other Word Forms
- antilottery adjective
Etymology
Origin of lottery
First recorded in 1560–70, lottery is from the Middle Dutch word loterie (whence also French loterie ). See lot, -ery
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It could rewrite the rules that divvy up the ping-pong balls for the draft lottery.
A Defra spokesperson said it will "end the postcode lottery of bin collection".
From BBC
Demand for visas has exceeded supply every year for the past two decades, which is why H-1Bs are allocated by lottery.
Zion National Park in Utah will still operate a lottery system for its Angels Landing hike.
A flagship government policy offering 30 hours of free childcare from the age of nine months leaves families facing a "birthday lottery", parents say.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
