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Webster's New World College Dictionary » sweepstake
sweepstake
Variant of sweepstakes
sweepstakes
definition
sweep·stakes (swēp′stāks′)
noun pl. sweepstakes -·stakes′
- a lottery in which each participant puts up money in a common fund which is given as the prize to the winner or in shares to several winners
- a contest, esp. a horse race, the result of which determines the winner or winners of such a lottery
- the prize or prizes won in such a lottery
- any of various other lotteries
Etymology: because the winner “sweeps in” all of the stakes
Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
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