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

It raffles off free Cane’s for a year to a “Lucky 20” customers who show up within the first few hours of an opening, offering Caniacs another reason to camp outside in the parking lot.

From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2026

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

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

Aureliano Segundo was so busy trying to maintain the prestige of his raffles that he barely had time to see the children.

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

He reckons Raffles Medical shares trade at a discount to its Southeast Asian healthcare peers despite its strong earnings visibility.

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

The most popular colonial site is the Raffles Hotel, which was founded in 1887 and soon expanded to its current neo-Renaissance grandeur.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2025

Jockey aiming for National double after winning this year's Irish race on Easter Monday with Intense Raffles.

From BBC ● Apr. 11, 2024

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