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.
the casting or drawing of such objects as a method of deciding something.
They would have to choose a winner by lot.
the decision or choice made by drawing or throwing a set of objects such as straws or pebbles.
allotted share or portion.
With her lot of the inheritance, she built a business.
the portion in life assigned by fate or Providence; one's fate, fortune, or destiny.
Her lot had not been a happy one.
a distinct portion or piece of land.
a building lot.
a piece of land forming a part of a district, city, or other community.
South Midland and Southern U.S. a farmyard or barnyard.
a piece of land having the use specified by the attributive noun or adjective.
a parking lot; a used-car lot.
Movies. a motion-picture studio and its surrounding property.
a distinct portion or parcel of anything, as of merchandise.
The furniture was to be auctioned off in 20 lots.
a number of things or persons collectively.
There's one more, and that's the lot.
kind of person; sort.
He's a bad lot.
Often lots a great many or a great deal.
a lot of books;
lots of money.
Chiefly British. a tax or duty.
to divide or distribute by lot (sometimes followed byout ).
to lot furniture for sale; to lot out apples by the basketful.
to assign to a person as their lot; allot.
to divide into lots, as land.
Obsolete. to cast or draw lots for.
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.
draw / cast lots, to settle a question by the use of lots.
They drew lots to see who would go first.
a river in S France, flowing W to the Garonne. 300 miles (480 km) long.
a department in S France. 2,018 sq. mi. (5,225 sq. km). Cahors.
a collection of objects, items, or people
a nice lot of youngsters
portion in life; destiny; fortune
it falls to my lot to be poor
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 )
the use of lots in making a selection or choice (esp in the phrase by lot )
an assigned or apportioned share
an item or set of items for sale in an auction
an area of land
a parking lot
a piece of land with fixed boundaries
a film studio and the site on which it is located
an unpleasant or disreputable person
to join with voluntarily and share the fortunes of
the entire amount or number
to a considerable extent, degree, or amount; very much
to delay a lot
a great deal of the time or often
to sing madrigals a lot
to draw lots for (something)
(tr) to divide (land, etc) into lots
(tr) another word for allot
a department of S central France, in Midi-Pyrénées region. Capital: Cahors. Pop: 164 413 (2003 est). Area: 5226 sq km (2038 sq miles)
a river in S France, rising in the Cévennes and flowing west into the Garonne River. Length: about 483 km (300 miles)
First recorded before 950; 1805–15 lot for def. 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”
From the Latin word lōtiō
A lot is a plot of land. When you buy a house, you also buy the lot on which it sits. If there's an empty lot in your neighborhood, it means there's a space covered with grass or pavement that's large enough for a house or building to fit there. Another kind of lot is a set or group of items. At an auction or estate sale, you might find a lot of antique silver spoons for sale, or a lot of comic books — in either case, the lot is a collection.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
As for the rest of this year’s Tour, a lot of it felt like more of the same, the 27-year-old Pogacar asserting control early and dragging the field through a final charge in the Alps.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
“This gave my inner critic quite a lot of new material,” she wrote.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
Hugh Lennox Bond said the advantages of habeas are that it is swift and cheap, and I think that is what enabled a lot of the legal success in the District of Minnesota.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
"Going from vault straight to bars, it wasn't that long a time. So being resilient obviously helped a lot and I'm glad it paid off."
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
The drumbeats from the parking lot came to a stop, allowing a moment of quiet to settle over the drive-in—a peaceful pocket of rest where one song ended, and another began.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Mehrabian recalled seeing acts like Tale Of Us and Solomun at Lot 613 in their early days.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
The venue is very much under construction at the moment — what had been Lot 613 is a gutted shell and a dirt lot.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
Another long-tenured employee walking through Lot 11 laughed when asked about the parking policy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 25, 2026
Earlier this year, discount supermarket chain Save A Lot began working with suppliers to remove seven artificial dyes from all private label offerings by the end of 2027.
From Salon ● Mar. 5, 2026
One damp spring day in 1917, Frank Phillips—a wildcatter who’d previously sold a tonic to prevent baldness—was out with his workers on Lot 185, less than half a mile from Lot 50.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
“Assuming they’re forever stamps, buy a lot. You can always use them later, not for wedding-related things,” another commenter added.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 8, 2026
“We’ve laid a solid foundation. It’s very painful because we dreamed and had high hopes. Losing this way hurts a lot. All 26 of us made them very happy.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026
"It means a lot. You're a real person. You've inspired my life."
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026
"I think they can achieve a lot. I think a quarter-final berth would be expected at this stage," said 43-year-old fan Eric Gordon, attending with his young nephew Oliver.
From Barron's ● Jun. 9, 2026
“You and Katherine have been hanging out together a lot. Do you still have a crush on her?”
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
There are lots of parallels between these two stories: family members getting separated from loved ones, then turning to the courts, specifically to habeas corpus petitions, to claim that the separation is unlawful.
From Slate ● Jul. 27, 2026
So far, there’s little evidence it’s killing lots of jobs, something some leading technologists had warned.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 27, 2026
"After the colourful spring with seemingly lots of beautiful butterflies appearing across the UK, it's tempting to assume we're heading for a bumper summer," she said.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
Eventually many took turns sharing what they’d witnessed — friends and acquaintances getting detained and immigration agents swarming parking lots, sometimes dozens at a time.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 26, 2026
There are lots of mentions of something called Operation Sea Lion.
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
From the switch the ball is lotted through to Gomez, who again has a poor final touch and the ball reaches James.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 12, 2012
Bridges will be al lotted $700 million for repairs, while the remaining $600 million will be devoted to highway safety programs and miscellaneous road projects.
From Time Magazine Archive
So we lotted out the land, of which there is enough for hundreds, and began to build rude houses.
From Marie An Episode in The Life of the late Allan Quatermain by Haggard, Henry Rider
They was lotted of a certain tract and if it stay clear a certain time to get it all done.
From Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves Arkansas Narratives, Part 7 by Work Projects Administration
It chanced amongst the other people lotted, A man of thirty rather stout and hale, With resolution in his dark grey eye, Next Juan stood, till some might choose to buy.
From Don Juan by Byron, George Gordon Byron, Baron
We’ll do our best for you—but I ain’t lotting much on Latisan’s showing up again.
From Joan of Arc of the North Woods by Day, Holman
He has been lotting upon seeing you, maam.
From Cora and The Doctor or Revelations of A Physician's Wife by Leslie, Madeline
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.
