sweepstake

[sweep-steyk]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sweepstake ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a sweepstakes.

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

Related Words for sweepstake

raffle, gambling, chance, lotto, draw, flier, pool, stake, sweep, lots, disposition, speculation, wager, drawing, bet, tossup, gaming, numbers

Examples from the Web for sweepstake

Historical Examples of sweepstake

The mystery of his wealth had been discovered months ago—he'd won a sweepstake fortune.
Rich Living
Michael Cathal
Entering a café with O'Flaherty was like a blindfold draw in a sweepstake of identities.
Eastern Nights - and Flights
Alan Bott
In the following year the earl established a sweepstake of 50 sovs.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 6
Various
Here we are just getting up a sweepstake for the next race; hand over a rupee and try to get up an interest in it.
Rujub, the Juggler
G. A. Henty
To flatter its interest a sweepstake had been arranged among the officers for who should name the exact moment of its conclusion.
The Story of the 2/4th Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
G. K. Rose

British Dictionary definitions for sweepstake

sweepstake

esp US sweepstakes

noun

a lottery in which the stakes of the participants constitute the prize
the prize itself

any event involving a lottery, esp a horse race in which the prize is the competitors' stakes

Often shortened to: sweep

Word Origin for sweepstake

C15: originally referring to someone who sweeps or takes all the stakes in a game

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