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• raffles
  raffles

  noun

  a gentlemanly burglar, amateur housebreaker, or the like.
• Raffles
  Raffles

  noun

  Sir Thomas Stamford, 1781–1826, English colonial administrator in the East Indies.

raffles

¹ American  

[raf-uhlz] / ˈræf əlz /

noun

(often initial capital letter)

1. a gentlemanly burglar, amateur housebreaker, or the like.

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Raffles ² American  

[raf-uhlz] / ˈræf əlz /

noun

1. Sir Thomas Stamford, 1781–1826, English colonial administrator in the East Indies.

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Raffles British  

/ ˈræfəlz /

noun

1. Sir Thomas Stamford . 1781–1826, British colonial administrator: founded Singapore (1819) as a station for the British East India Company

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Etymology

Origin of raffles

1925–30; after Raffles, hero of The Amateur Cracksman, by E. W. Hornung (1866–1921), English novelist

Example Sentences

She has now set up a fundraiser and raffles to try and raise enough money for roof and kitchen repairs which she was told would cost around £30,000.

From BBC • Oct. 28, 2023

In other attempted gimmicks, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is entering donors into raffles for Major League Soccer games or free tuition payments.

From Slate • Jul. 24, 2023

That’s largely what was available at the Rainier Community Center on Saturday: music, lawn games, raffles, local food and small businesses like Redd-Jones’ selling their merchandise that celebrates Black culture.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 18, 2023

The family-friendly celebration will include a beauty pageant, guest speakers, live performances, games, yoga, raffles and Black business vendors.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 16, 2023

She had arrived in Macondo in the middle of the war with a chance husband who lived off raffles, and when the man died she kept up the business.

From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez