raffle
1 Americannoun
verb (used with object)
-
raffles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
raffled,
past participle, past
-
raffling
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
raffles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
raffled,
past participle, past
-
raffling
present participle
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
rafflesimple
-
rafflessimple
-
have raffledperfect
-
has raffledperfect
-
am rafflingprogressive
-
are rafflingprogressive
-
is rafflingprogressive
-
have been rafflingperfect progressive
-
has been rafflingperfect progressive
Past
-
raffledsimple
-
had raffledperfect
-
was rafflingprogressive
-
were rafflingprogressive
-
had been rafflingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of raffle1
1350–1400; Middle English rafle dice game < Middle French, derivative of rafler to snatch; cf. raff
Origin of raffle2
Explanation
A raffle is a type of contest in which you buy a ticket for a chance to win a prize. After the tickets are sold, a drawing determines which ticket holds the winning number. People raffle off everything from fruit baskets to cars. You might enter a raffle at a school gathering, a fair, or another event. The proceeds from selling raffle tickets often go toward a good cause, like a charity. When a group holds a raffle, you can also say that they raffle the prizes off — your French club might raffle off a bicycle to raise money for your trip to Montreal, for example. A raffle was originally "a dice game."
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.
See Examples For:
Yamal’s family had entered a charity raffle organized by the Spanish newspaper Diario Sport and the United Nations Children’s Fund, known as UNICEF, and they won a spot in a promotional photo shoot with Messi.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
They came together after Yamal’s mother, Sheila, won a raffle run by a local newspaper and Barcelona’s shirt sponsor, the children’s charity UNICEF.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
“My uncle took me to see a match. He had won two tickets in a raffle at his job,” Luna says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 4, 2026
Buffett has lavished praise on the executive for his preternatural ability to craft offbeat policies, including insuring Chicago’s tallest building against terrorist attacks and Pepsi against having to award a $1 billion raffle prize.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026
“We’ll sell raffle tickets! And scented candles! And chocolate bars! I’ll sell my bike! I’ll do anything! Please don’t cancel the paper chain!”
From "Linked" by Gordon Korman
These might include old-school offerings like block parties, back-to-school events, give-aways and raffles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026
Lohman-Janz created enamel pins and hosts raffles to encourage members to keep coming out.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2025
They have held auctions, organized raffles and invited influencers to participate in promotional clips.
From New York Times ● Mar. 7, 2024
Already, duty-free car raffles bombard those flying through Dubai International Airport.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 3, 2023
He offered Seabiscuit mementoes for newspaper raffles and sent oversized Seabiscuit Christmas cards to scores of reporters.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
He campaigned on X to get the pay plan approved, and the company raffled off a chance for a tour of a Tesla production plant with the CEO.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
Between Thursday, June 19, and Sunday, June 22, participating chefs and restaurants throughout Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego are presenting unique pies to be sold or raffled whole or by the slice.
From Salon ● Jun. 19, 2025
He autographed “Star Wars”-themed posters that are being raffled off.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 27, 2023
In December, the company raffled 25 cars to customers to mark its 25th anniversary.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 1, 2023
The swag Wilfrido raffled off was pretty cool.
From "The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora" by Pablo Cartaya
They thought it was funny and weird that the event was raffling off a chocolate cake, she said.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 21, 2023
He's already selling greeting cards, T-shirts, hats, wine glasses, footballs, placemats and Christmas ornaments, along with raffling off tickets to see him perform.
From Salon ● Nov. 10, 2022
Hoang will be raffling eight loaves of milk bread from the restaurant, each feeding roughly four people, to be picked up at the winners’ convenience.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 3, 2022
In Russia, some companies tried convincing vaccine-doubters by raffling snowmobiles and cars.
From BBC ● Dec. 19, 2021
The piano had been rolled out from the social hall, and Miss Lulu was playing what she must have thought was an appropriate cake raffling song.
From "Louisiana's Way Home" by Kate DiCamillo
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.
