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View synonyms for lottery

lottery

[ lot-uh-ree ]

noun

, plural lot·ter·ies.
  1. a gambling game or method of raising money, as for some public charitable purpose, in which a large number of tickets are sold and a drawing is held for certain prizes.
  2. any scheme for the distribution of prizes by chance.
  3. any happening or process that is or appears to be determined by chance:

    to look upon life as a lottery.



lottery

/ ˈlɒtərɪ /

noun

  1. a method of raising money by selling numbered tickets and giving a proportion of the money raised to holders of numbers drawn at random
  2. a similar method of raising money in which players select a small group of numbers out of a larger group printed on a ticket. If a player's selection matches some or all of the numbers drawn at random the player wins a proportion of the prize fund
  3. an activity or endeavour the success of which is regarded as a matter of fate or luck


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Other Words From

  • anti·lotter·y adjective

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Word History and Origins

Origin of lottery1

First recorded in 1560–70, lottery is from the Middle Dutch word loterie (whence also French loterie ). See lot, -ery

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Word History and Origins

Origin of lottery1

C16: from Old French loterie, from Middle Dutch loterije. See lot

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Example Sentences

Deputy health commissioner Anderson disagrees about whether lotteries are useful, saying the city is pushing to improve equity through community partnerships and outreach instead.

Buyers will be selected by lottery, as usual, with designations for every team.

In most states, lotteries accounted for about 2 percent of total revenue, a significant sum, to be sure, but hardly enough to offset a tax reduction and meaningfully bolster government expenditures.

Worst of all, Dallas owes New York its 2021 first-rounder, which could land in the lottery barring a reversal of fortune this season.

Other proposals included implementing a lottery rather than the first-come, first-served registration scramble for appointments.

You might be a lesbian, in which case you have won the sexual lottery.

The winning lottery numbers and foretold riches never arrived.

Selecting legislators by lottery was good enough for the ancient Athenians.

No matter how much money the Koch brothers or Tom Steyer spend, they cannot convince a lottery to choose one person over another.

Pathways offers employment services no matter the intensiveness of the disability (they have a lottery system).

Malicious persons in the town even declared that the lamented Torvestad had got his wife in a lottery at Christiansfeldt.

A lottery drawn in London for the benefit of the Virginia plantations, the profits of which amounted to nearly 30,000.

She ran the household, but had likewise a decided mania for lottery, and always for the same numbers; she "nursed a trey."

The lottery had taken a strong hold upon the innate love of chance.

The new county was required to build a court house at its own expense, which was partly done by lottery.

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lotteLottie