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sweepstake

[sweep-steyk]
See more synonyms for sweepstake on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a sweepstakes.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for sweepstake

Historical Examples

  • 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.

  • In the following year the earl established a sweepstake of 50 sovs.

  • 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.

  • To flatter its interest a sweepstake had been arranged among the officers for who should name the exact moment of its conclusion.

British Dictionary definitions for sweepstake

sweepstake

esp US sweepstakes

noun
    1. a lottery in which the stakes of the participants constitute the prize
    2. the prize itself
  2. any event involving a lottery, esp a horse race in which the prize is the competitors' stakes
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Often shortened to: sweep

Word Origin

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