lottery

[ lot-uh-ree ]

/ ˈlɒt ə ri /

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See 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.

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Origin of lottery

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

OTHER WORDS FROM lottery

an·ti·lot·ter·y, adjective

Words nearby lottery

Lotrimin, lots, Lot's wife, Lotta, lotte, lottery, Lottie, lotto, lotus, lotus-eater, Lotus of the Good Law

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use lottery in a sentence

Deputy health commissioner Anderson disagrees about whether lotteries are useful, saying the city is pushing to improve equity through community partnerships and outreach instead.
Chicago thinks Zocdoc can help solve its vaccine chaos|Lindsay Muscato|February 12, 2021|MIT Technology Review
Buyers will be selected by lottery, as usual, with designations for every team.
What you need to know about Super Bowl LV|Sam Fortier|February 7, 2021|Washington Post
In most states, lotteries accounted for about 2 percent of total revenue, a significant sum, to be sure, but hardly enough to offset a tax reduction and meaningfully bolster government expenditures.
Sports gambling could be the pandemic’s biggest winner|Jonathan D. Cohen|February 5, 2021|Washington Post
Worst of all, Dallas owes New York its 2021 first-rounder, which could land in the lottery barring a reversal of fortune this season.
How Luka Doncic’s Mavericks lost their joyful swagger and how they can get it back|Ben Golliver|February 3, 2021|Washington Post

Other proposals included implementing a lottery rather than the first-come, first-served registration scramble for appointments.
D.C. releases early data on vaccine recipients amid push for equitable distribution|Michael Brice-Saddler, Julie Zauzmer, Lola Fadulu|February 1, 2021|Washington Post
You might be a lesbian, in which case you have won the sexual lottery.
Was 2014 the Year Science Discovered The Female Orgasm?|Samantha Allen|December 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The winning lottery numbers and foretold riches never arrived.
The Multimillion ‘Clairvoyance by Mail’ Scam|Jacob Siegel|November 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
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
Malicious persons in the town even declared that the lamented Torvestad had got his wife in a lottery at Christiansfeldt.
Skipper Worse|Alexander Lange Kielland
A lottery drawn in London for the benefit of the Virginia plantations, the profits of which amounted to nearly 30,000.
The Every Day Book of History and Chronology|Joel Munsell
She ran the household, but had likewise a decided mania for lottery, and always for the same numbers; she "nursed a trey."
Repertory Of The Comedie Humaine, Complete, A -- Z|Anatole Cerfberr and Jules Franois Christophe
The lottery had taken a strong hold upon the innate love of chance.
A short history of Rhode Island|George Washington Greene
The new county was required to build a court house at its own expense, which was partly done by lottery.
A short history of Rhode Island|George Washington Greene

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

lottery

Origin of lottery

OTHER WORDS FROM lottery

Words nearby lottery

Words related to lottery

How to use lottery in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for lottery

Word Origin for lottery