Showing results for "raffles"

• present tense form of raffle (3rd person singular).

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• raffles
  raffles

  noun

  a gentlemanly burglar, amateur housebreaker, or the like.
• Raffles
  Raffles

  noun

  Sir Thomas Stamford, 1781–1826, English colonial administrator in the East Indies.

raffles

¹ American  

[raf-uhlz] / ˈræf əlz /

noun

(often initial capital letter)

1. a gentlemanly burglar, amateur housebreaker, or the like.

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Raffles ² American  

[raf-uhlz] / ˈræf əlz /

noun

1. Sir Thomas Stamford, 1781–1826, English colonial administrator in the East Indies.

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Raffles British  

/ ˈræfəlz /

noun

1. Sir Thomas Stamford . 1781–1826, British colonial administrator: founded Singapore (1819) as a station for the British East India Company

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Etymology

Origin of raffles

1925–30; after Raffles, hero of The Amateur Cracksman, by E. W. Hornung (1866–1921), English novelist

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

raffles Raffles

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

From raffles to ultramarathons and charity nights, family and friends have fundraised meaning Dan and Anna could set off for a trial abroad in October.

From BBC ● Dec. 31, 2025

They have held auctions, organized raffles and invited influencers to participate in promotional clips.

From New York Times ● Mar. 7, 2024

For some reason, he keeps entering raffles for travel but has not won another one since we got married.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2023

Until the end of the wars Petra Cotes continued to support herself with the returns from her raffles and Aureliano Segundo was able to sack Úrsula's savings from time to time.

From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

RHB retains its buy rating and 1.30 Singapore dollar target price on Raffles Medical, which rises 1.1% to S$0.93.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026

As always with these assignments, we had limited time but thankfully we were shooting at the wonderful Raffles in London and Luis, Catherine and Jenna were so wonderful.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 23, 2025

Westminster Development Services is best known for redeveloping the site of the former Old War Office building on Whitehall as a Raffles hotel complex.

From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2024

The best spots are already taken by a Pullman, a Raffles, and other luxury hotels.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 29, 2023

In the early nineteenth century Sir Stamford Raffles, founder of Singapore, while supervising the British occupation of Java sent two gamelan sets back to Britain, housed today in the British Museum.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall