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.
“A lot of our customers are net buyers,” Robinhood CFO Shiv Verma told MarketWatch.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026
"There was just a lot of rocking and confusion," she told the BBC's Newsday programme.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
“A lot of nervousness,” Hernández said about playing again, mentioning that he had a panic attack when first learning of his worse-than-expected diagnosis.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
Some oil has been getting out of the Persian Gulf, and there’s a lot of supply that can come onto the market, he says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026
Clare tried to muster some satisfaction that his point had been made, but for someone who’d just won, he felt an awful lot like a loser.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
The former Lot 613 was a semi-permanent pop-up music venue used by various promoters over the years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
In his keynote address at the AI on the Lot conference last week, director and screenwriter Paul Schrader expressed a mixture of admiration and caution toward the technology.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 2, 2026
Appeared in the May 2, 2026, print edition as 'How a Miami Parking Lot Transformed to a F1 Showplace'.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 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
Aru had circled Costco Parking Lot Section A twice before she saw her.
From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi
"I played golf with him and I like him a lot. He's a good golfer too. He's really great."
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
“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
"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
“I think it was made up, but we had it for breakfast a lot. It was this fruit salad thing. This is my version of it.”
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
"It's especially sad that this has happened in the summer when lots of extra projects are up and running," she said.
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2026
Senate, governor and attorney general — suggest lots of room for movement in the less than 12 weeks remaining until Oct.
From Salon ● Jul. 29, 2026
Grandparenting also can bring lots of stress when adult children are faltering as parents, when grandparents are unable to have expected interactions and relationships with grandchildren or when grandchildren have severe emotional or physical problems.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
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
I remember it was a kind of collage, full of cutout pictures of circus life, with clowns and acrobats and jugglers and horses, and elephants, of course, lots of elephants.
From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo
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
I had laid on a certain plan day and night, kep’ it in my mind and lotted on it.
From Around the World with Josiah Allen's Wife by Holley, Marietta
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 is thus settled by lottery that Tannappa and his under-share-holders are to cultivate the land of the principal share lotted under No. 1.
From The Child and Childhood in Folk-Thought Studies of the Activities and Influences of the Child Among Primitive Peoples, Their Analogues and Survivals in the Civilization of To-Day by Chamberlain, Alexander F.
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.
