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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

They have held auctions, organized raffles and invited influencers to participate in promotional clips.

From New York Times • Mar. 7, 2024

As California historian Kevin Starr wrote, Culver used gimmicks and giveaways and stunts like kids’ boxcar races, raffles, parades, and, memorably, a polo game played from the running boards of Model Ts.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 3, 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

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