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jackpots

 - 3 dictionary results

jack·pot

   [jak-pot]
–noun
1.
the chief prize or the cumulative stakes in a game or contest, as in bingo, a quiz contest, or a slot machine.
2.
Poker. a pot that accumulates until a player opens the betting with a pair of predetermined denomination, usually jacks or better.
—Idioms
3.
an outstanding reward or success.
4.
hit the jackpot, Informal.
a.
to achieve a sensational success; have sudden luck: The firm has hit the jackpot with its new line of computers.
b.
to win a jackpot.
Use jackpots in a Sentence
Origin:
1880–85, Americanism; of uncert. orig.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
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Word Origin & History

jackpot
"big prize," 1944, from obsolete poker sense (1881) of progressive antes that begin when no player has a pair of jacks or better. Earlier, in criminal slang, it meant "trouble," especially "an arrest" (1902).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
jack·pot   (jāk'pŏt')   
n.  

    1. The accumulated stakes in a kind of poker that requires one to hold a pair of jacks or better in order to open the betting.

    2. A cumulative pool in a competition, lottery, or various other games.

  2. A top prize or reward.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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