lottery

[ lot-uh-ree ]

/ ˈlɒt ə ri /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR lottery ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural lot·ter·ies.

a gambling game or method of raising money, as for some public charitable purpose, in which a large number of tickets are sold and a drawing is held for certain prizes.

any scheme for the distribution of prizes by chance.

any happening or process that is or appears to be determined by chance: to look upon life as a lottery.

Nearby words

Origin of lottery

First recorded in 1560–70, lottery is from the Middle Dutch word loterie (whence also French loterie). See lot, -ery

Related formsan·ti·lot·ter·y, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for lottery

Selecting legislators by lottery was good enough for the ancient Athenians.
Is It Time to Take a Chance on Random Representatives?|Michael Schulson|November 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
No matter how much money the Koch brothers or Tom Steyer spend, they cannot convince a lottery to choose one person over another.
Is It Time to Take a Chance on Random Representatives?|Michael Schulson|November 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Pathways offers employment services no matter the intensiveness of the disability (they have a lottery system).
Hiring People With Disabilities Isn’t Just the Right Thing to Do—It’s Good for Business|Elizabeth Picciuto|October 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
On the flip side, when you draw a Travis Wall contemporary routine, you must be like, “I hit the lottery!”
'So You Think You Can Dance' Winner Ricky Ubeda Is Adorable, and Tired|Kevin Fallon|September 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST

It is playing the lottery, and while the odds are stacked against it, sometimes people win the lottery.
ISIS Risks Everything to Declare a Caliphate|J.M. Berger|June 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A lottery was finally established for the benefit of the fabric.
Sketches and Studies in Italy and Greece|John Addington Symonds
Like thousands of his countrymen, he had played for fortune in the Manila lottery.
An Australian in China|George Ernest Morrison
Few human passions are so strong as that of gambling, and Spain has surrendered to the lottery.
A History of Spain|Charles E. Chapman
It had become a common entertainment of the court to put up in a lottery some beautiful article of jewelry.
Louis XIV., Makers of History Series|John S. C. Abbott
The highest prize in this lottery is 4000 dollars, and the price of the ticket is four reals.
Travels in Peru, on the Coast, in the Sierra, Across the Cordilleras and the Andes, into the Primeval Forests|J. J. von Tschudi

British Dictionary definitions for lottery

lottery

/ (ˈlɒtərɪ) /

noun plural -teries

a method of raising money by selling numbered tickets and giving a proportion of the money raised to holders of numbers drawn at random

a similar method of raising money in which players select a small group of numbers out of a larger group printed on a ticket. If a player's selection matches some or all of the numbers drawn at random the player wins a proportion of the prize fund

an activity or endeavour the success of which is regarded as a matter of fate or luck

Word Origin for lottery

C16: from Old French loterie, from Middle Dutch loterije. See lot

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for lottery

lottery

1560s, "arrangement for a distribution of prizes by chance," from Italian lotteria, from lotto "lot, portion, share," from same root as Old English hlot (see lot). Cf. Middle French loterie, from Middle Dutch loterje, from lot (n.).