raffle
1 Americannoun
verb (used with object)
-
raffles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
raffled,
past participle, past
-
raffling
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
raffles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
raffled,
past participle, past
-
raffling
present participle
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
rafflesimple
-
rafflessimple
-
have raffledperfect
-
has raffledperfect
-
am rafflingprogressive
-
are rafflingprogressive
-
is rafflingprogressive
-
have been rafflingperfect progressive
-
has been rafflingperfect progressive
Past
-
raffledsimple
-
had raffledperfect
-
was rafflingprogressive
-
were rafflingprogressive
-
had been rafflingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of raffle1
1350–1400; Middle English rafle dice game < Middle French, derivative of rafler to snatch; cf. raff
Origin of raffle2
Explanation
A raffle is a type of contest in which you buy a ticket for a chance to win a prize. After the tickets are sold, a drawing determines which ticket holds the winning number. People raffle off everything from fruit baskets to cars. You might enter a raffle at a school gathering, a fair, or another event. The proceeds from selling raffle tickets often go toward a good cause, like a charity. When a group holds a raffle, you can also say that they raffle the prizes off — your French club might raffle off a bicycle to raise money for your trip to Montreal, for example. A raffle was originally "a dice game."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
They came together after Yamal’s mother, Sheila, won a raffle run by a local newspaper and Barcelona’s shirt sponsor, the children’s charity UNICEF.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
Yamal’s family had entered a charity raffle organized by the Spanish newspaper Diario Sport and the United Nations Children’s Fund, known as UNICEF, and they won a spot in a promotional photo shoot with Messi.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
Customers can get stamps from trying different food and drinks and later be entered into a raffle for prizes.
From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2026
Outside the stadium a small net had been set up and any kid who could put the ball in the goal would be entered in a raffle to be a ball boy on the field.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2026
Despite the odds Archie had set up with the raffle tickets.
From "The Chocolate War" by Robert Cormier
These might include old-school offerings like block parties, back-to-school events, give-aways and raffles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026
Murch, a single mother of two who also kept cash raised at raffles and club events, took £20,409 before club officials spotted account discrepancies.
From BBC ● May 26, 2026
They have held auctions, organized raffles and invited influencers to participate in promotional clips.
From New York Times ● Mar. 7, 2024
The family-friendly celebration will include a beauty pageant, guest speakers, live performances, games, yoga, raffles and Black business vendors.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2023
She saw to it that she had a good pair of shoes for street wear, that she always had clothing, even during the times when the raffles were working only through some miracle.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
He campaigned on X to get the pay plan approved, and the company raffled off a chance for a tour of a Tesla production plant with the CEO.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
Between Thursday, June 19, and Sunday, June 22, participating chefs and restaurants throughout Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego are presenting unique pies to be sold or raffled whole or by the slice.
From Salon ● Jun. 19, 2025
It will be raffled this fall — after Kelce drives it around town and to games for a few weeks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2024
He autographed “Star Wars”-themed posters that are being raffled off.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 27, 2023
The swag Wilfrido raffled off was pretty cool.
From "The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora" by Pablo Cartaya
They were raffling one off, and I won it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 13, 2023
They thought it was funny and weird that the event was raffling off a chocolate cake, she said.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 21, 2023
A new extension to a school in Gloucestershire has just been opened, in part thanks to money raised by raffling off a signed Coldplay guitar.
From BBC ● Dec. 18, 2022
He's already selling greeting cards, T-shirts, hats, wine glasses, footballs, placemats and Christmas ornaments, along with raffling off tickets to see him perform.
From Salon ● Nov. 10, 2022
“Yeah, Miss Battaglia, I’m sorry I’m a little late, but I had to take my little granchirren around the neighbor-hood. They raffling some rosaries for the sisters.”
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
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.
