jackpot
Americannoun
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jackpots
plural
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the chief prize or the cumulative stakes in a game or contest, as in bingo, a quiz contest, or a slot machine.
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Poker. a pot that accumulates until a player opens the betting with a pair of predetermined denomination, usually jacks or better.
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an outstanding reward or success.
idioms
noun
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any large prize, kitty, or accumulated stake that may be won in gambling, such as a pool in poker that accumulates until the betting is opened with a pair of jacks or higher
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to win a jackpot
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informal to achieve great success, esp through luck
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Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of jackpot
An Americanism dating back to 1880–85; of uncertain origin
Explanation
A jackpot is a pile of money won during a game such as a poker. It's also any example of good fortune. Originally, a jackpot was a pile of money in poker that accumulated until someone produced a pair of jacks (or something better). These days, a jackpot is any kind of prize, winnings, or success. If you get a high-paying job, you hit the jackpot. If you married a wonderful person, you hit the jackpot. Sometimes a jackpot is specific to a game, like the money won from a hand of 21, but any good fortune can be considered a jackpot.
Vocabulary lists containing jackpot
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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:
The Times sports section once again hit the jackpot with Bill Plaschke’s column on Eric Sondheimer coupled with Sondheimer’s own column on his 50 top memories of his 50 years of reporting high school sports.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 29, 2026
A family almost missed out on a £1m lottery jackpot after unknowingly ignoring calls and emails notifying them that they had won.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
Rising bond yields increase the value of the optional annuity that makes up that official jackpot.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
In January 2021 the jackpot was only $731 million, yet the lump sum was $547 million.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
San Martín was a jackpot, good for money.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
And backers of AI companies have billions, if not trillions, of reasons to hope their gambles aren’t just once-in-a-generation jackpots, but once in a human existence.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 18, 2026
The three largest jackpots were also from Powerball.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 23, 2025
In fact, in the case of the 50 largest lottery jackpots claimed to date, the prize has been split by two or more winners 10 times.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 22, 2025
The National Lottery raises money for charitable causes alongside its jackpots, and since its foundation in the 1990s, it has donated more than £50 billion for charitable causes.
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2025
More people have won lottery jackpots than flown in space.
From "Women in Space" by Karen Bush Gibson
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.
