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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

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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

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

In other attempted gimmicks, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is entering donors into raffles for Major League Soccer games or free tuition payments.

From Slate ● Jul. 24, 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

The sliver of a country—176 square miles, the smallest in Africa—is stacked with luxury out-posts, including two Four Seasons, Raffles, Six Senses, Waldorf Astoria and Cheval Blanc.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026

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

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

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