lotto

[lot-oh]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR lotto ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a game of chance in which a leader draws numbered disks at random from a stock and the players cover the corresponding numbers on their cards, the winner being the first to cover a complete row.

a lottery, as one operated by a state government, in which players choose numbers that are matched against those of the official drawing, the winning numbers typically paying large cash prizes.

Origin of lotto

1770–80; < Italian < Germanic; see lot

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

Related Words for lotto

raffle, gambling, sweepstake, poker, roulette, chance, bridge, lottery, bingo, canasta, gin, pinochle, twenty-one

Examples from the Web for lotto

Contemporary Examples of lotto

Lotto is propped up by the notion that “Hey, you never know” though of course you do know—you know that you will not win.
A Doctor Explains Why Cruise Ships Should Be Banned
Kent Sepkowitz
November 19, 2014
The one-in-a-million chance is exactly that—a small but real chance, as any lotto winner will tell you.
All These AIDS ‘Cures’ Are a Fantasy—One That Can Cause Real Harm
Kent Sepkowitz
November 6, 2014
Applying for a permit is kind of like playing the Lotto, but with worse odds.
First Friday of Ramadan For Palestinians
Maysoon Zayid
July 12, 2013
Whenever I say, ‘Oh, can I have my lotto number, the newspaper?’
Meet Mariann From Brooklyn, Howard Stern’s Biggest Fan
Kevin Fallon
February 28, 2013

Historical Examples of lotto

Lipinski, Wieniawski, and Lotto were all educated in the Paris school.
The Violin
George Hart
Why, I am anything but a spring chicken, yet Lotto was an old game when I was young.
Camping
Alexandra G. Lockwine
In my young days a game of lotto was introduced in the clubs.
What Shall We Do?
Leo Tolstoy
This is a game similar to the "lotto" we used to play as children.
A Yankee in the Trenches
R. Derby Holmes
In the end he begins to attitudinise and to display those artificial graces which were presently accentuated by Lotto.
The Venetian School of Painting
Evelyn March Phillipps

British Dictionary definitions for lotto

lotto

noun

Also called: housey-housey a children's game in which numbered discs, counters, etc, are drawn at random and called out, while the players cover the corresponding numbers on cards, the winner being the first to cover all the numbers, a particular row, etcCompare bingo

a lottery

Word Origin for lotto

C18: from Italian, from Old French lot, from Germanic. 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 lotto

1778, "type of card game," from French loto and directly from Italian lotto "a lot," from Old French lot "lot, share, reward, prize," from Frankish or some other Germanic source (cf. Old English and Old Frisian hlot; see lot (n.)). Meaning "a lottery, a game of chance" is attested from 1787.