Lot

¹

[ lot ]

noun

1. the nephew of Abraham. His wife was changed into a pillar of salt for looking back during their flight from Sodom. Genesis 13:1–12, 19.

Lot

²

[ lawt ]

noun

1. a river in S France, flowing W to the Garonne. 300 miles (480 km) long.
2. a department in S France. 2,018 sq. mi. (5,225 sq. km). : Cahors.

lot

³

[ lot ]

noun

1. one of a set of objects, such as straws or pebbles, drawn or thrown from a container to decide a question or choice by chance.
2. the casting or drawing of such objects as a method of deciding something:

   They would have to choose a winner by lot.

3. the decision or choice made by drawing or throwing a set of objects such as straws or pebbles.
4. allotted share or portion:

   With her lot of the inheritance, she built a business.

   Synonyms: quota, part

5. the portion in life assigned by fate or Providence; one's fate, fortune, or destiny:

   Her lot had not been a happy one.

6. a distinct portion or piece of land:

   a building lot.

7. a piece of land forming a part of a district, city, or other community.

   Synonyms: parcel, plot

8. South Midland and Southern U.S. a farmyard or barnyard.
9. a piece of land having the use specified by the attributive noun or adjective:

   a parking lot; a used-car lot.

10. Movies. a motion-picture studio and its surrounding property.
11. a distinct portion or parcel of anything, as of merchandise:

    The furniture was to be auctioned off in 20 lots.

12. a number of things or persons collectively:

    There's one more, and that's the lot.

    Synonyms: gang, crowd, group

13. kind of person; sort:

    He's a bad lot.

14. Often lots. a great many or a great deal:

    a lot of books;

    lots of money.

15. Chiefly British. a tax or duty.

verb (used with object)

, lot·ted, lot·ting.

1. to divide or distribute by lot (sometimes followed by out ):

   to lot furniture for sale; to lot out apples by the basketful.

2. to assign to a person as their lot; allot.
3. to divide into lots, as land.
4. Obsolete. to cast or draw lots for.

verb (used without object)

, lot·ted, lot·ting.

1. to draw lots.

adverb

1. Often lots. a great deal; greatly:

   Thanks a lot for the ride.

   I care lots about my family.

lot.

⁴

abbreviation for

1. (in prescriptions) a lotion.

Lot

¹

/ lɒt /

noun

1. Old Testament Abraham's nephew: he escaped the destruction of Sodom, but his wife was changed into a pillar of salt for looking back as they fled (Genesis 19)

Lot

²

/ lɒt /

noun

1. a department of S central France, in Midi-Pyrénées region. Capital: Cahors. Pop: 164 413 (2003 est). Area: 5226 sq km (2038 sq miles)
2. a river in S France, rising in the Cévennes and flowing west into the Garonne River. Length: about 483 km (300 miles)

lot

³

/ lɒt /

pronoun

1. functioning as singular or pluralpreceded bya a great number or quantity

   a lot of people

   a lot to do

   a lot of trouble

noun

1. a collection of objects, items, or people

   a nice lot of youngsters

2. portion in life; destiny; fortune

   it falls to my lot to be poor

3. any object, such as a straw or slip of paper, drawn from others at random to make a selection or choice (esp in the phrase draw or cast lots )
4. the use of lots in making a selection or choice (esp in the phrase by lot )
5. an assigned or apportioned share
6. an item or set of items for sale in an auction
7. an area of land

   a parking lot

8. a piece of land with fixed boundaries
9. a film studio and the site on which it is located
10. a bad lot
    a bad lot an unpleasant or disreputable person
11. cast in one's lot with
    cast in one's lot withthrow in one's lot with to join with voluntarily and share the fortunes of
12. the lot
    the lot the entire amount or number

adverb

1. to a considerable extent, degree, or amount; very much

   to delay a lot

2. a great deal of the time or often

   to sing madrigals a lot

verb

1. to draw lots for (something)
2. tr to divide (land, etc) into lots
3. See allot
   tr another word for allot

Other Words From

• lotter noun
• inter·lot verb (used with object) interlotted interlotting
• sublot noun
• un·lotted adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of Lot¹

First recorded before 950; 1805–15 lot fordef 14; Middle English; Old English hlot “portion, choice, decision”; cognate with Dutch lot, Old Norse hlutr; akin to Old English hlīet, German Los, Old Norse hlaut, Gothic hlauts “lot”

Origin of Lot²

From the Latin word lōtiō

Word History and Origins

Origin of Lot¹

Old English hlot; related to Old High German lug portion of land, Old Norse hlutr lot, share

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. cast (in) one's lot with, to ally oneself with; share the life and fortunes of:

   She had cast her lot with the bohemian crowd.

2. draw / cast lots, to settle a question by the use of lots:

   They drew lots to see who would go first.

More idioms and phrases containing Lot

see a lot ; carry (a lot of) weight ; cast one's lot with ; fat chance (lot) ; have (a lot) going for one ; have a lot on one's plate ; leave a lot to be desired ; quite a bit (lot) ; think a lot of .

Example Sentences

There will undoubtedly be lots of changes, but as of press time, here’s a glimpse at some of the cinematic delights waiting for LGBTQ audiences.

From Washington Blade

So both of these companies may lose a lot of their overseas exposure.

From Fortune

I think this year has been unprecedented in a lot of ways, and when things are very different than what they have been, people are fearful.

From ProPublica

If you’ve got a lot of that going for you, then striking oil can be a blessing.

From Freakonomics

“It helped me a lot having to run for a while,” Davies said.

From FiveThirtyEight

I think a lot of it has to do with the attitude and the energy behind it and the honesty.

From The Daily Beast

There was a lot of positive feedback from people interested in non-gender binary people.

From The Daily Beast

If anything the work the two cops and the maintenance guy were doing deserves more respect and probably helped a lot more people.

From The Daily Beast

A lot of people ring in the New Year with vows to lose weight and exercise.

From The Daily Beast

And extortion makes a lot more sense before a story hits the news wire, not after.

From The Daily Beast

If the "Y" Beach lot press their advantage they may cut off the enemy troops on the toe of the Peninsula.

From Project Gutenberg

In the old world, poverty seemed, and poverty was, the natural and inevitable lot of the greater portion of mankind.

From Project Gutenberg

Seen thus poverty became rather a blessing than a curse, or at least a dispensation prescribing the proper lot of man.

From Project Gutenberg

Then the enemy's howitzers and field guns had it all their own way, forcing attack to yield a lot of ground.

From Project Gutenberg

I have seen a lot of Bolshevik propaganda and it is not very convincing stuff.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• abundance
• bunch
• collection
• crowd
• group
• load
• much
• number
• plenty
• set