lottery
[lot-uh-ree]
- 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.
Show More
Origin of lottery
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for lottery
Contemporary Examples
Selecting legislators by lottery was good enough for the ancient Athenians.
No matter how much money the Koch brothers or Tom Steyer spend, they cannot convince a lottery to choose one person over another.
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 BusinessElizabeth Picciuto
October 27, 2014
On the flip side, when you draw a Travis Wall contemporary routine, you must be like, “I hit the lottery!”
It is playing the lottery, and while the odds are stacked against it, sometimes people win the lottery.
Historical Examples
We put into a lottery for a beefsteak pudding, and it is impossible to say what we may get.
Life And Adventures Of Martin ChuzzlewitCharles Dickens
It was at the time when the Chamber was asked to authorise the issue of lottery stock.
The Three Cities Trilogy, CompleteEmile Zola
If he could, publishing would be less of a lottery than it is.
One Day's CourtshipRobert Barr
Every unbroken colt is like a ticket in a lottery; it may be easy, or it may be a tartar.
The Night RidersRidgwell Cullum
The lottery was to be publicly drawn the first of February, 1750.
The Phantom WorldAugustin Calmet
lottery
- 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
Show More
Word Origin
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
n.
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.).
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper