lottery

lot·ter·y

noun

The definition of a lottery is a game of chance where money is raised by selling tickets that offer a chance to win a big prize, or a drawing.

The PowerBall where you buy a ticket for $1 and have a chance of winning millions is an example of a lottery.
The drawing for the opportunity to purchase a limited available season tickets is an example of a lottery.

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"lottery." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/lottery>.

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lottery. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/lottery

lottery

noun

pl. -·ter·ies

a game of chance in which people buy numbered tickets, and prizes are given to those whose numbers are drawn by lot: often sponsored by a state or organization as a means of raising funds
any undertaking that involves chance selections, as by the drawing of lots: military draft lottery

Origin of lottery

Middle French loterie from Middle Dutch loterije from lot, lot

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"lottery." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/lottery>.

APA Style

lottery. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/lottery

lottery

noun

pl. lot·ter·ies

A contest in which tokens are distributed or sold, the winning token or tokens being secretly predetermined or ultimately selected in a random drawing.
A selection made by lot from a number of applicants or competitors: The state uses a lottery to assign spaces in the campground.
An activity or event regarded as having an outcome depending on fate: They considered combat duty a lottery.

Origin of lottery

French loterie probably from Dutch loterije from Middle Dutch from lot lot

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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MLA Style

"lottery." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/lottery>.

APA Style

lottery. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/lottery

Noun

(plural lotteries)

A scheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance, especially a gaming scheme in which one or more tickets bearing particular numbers draw prizes, the other tickets are blanks.
(figuratively) An affair of chance.

Origin

from Italian lotteria, from the same root as Old English hlot (cognate with lot).

English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.

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Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"lottery." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/lottery>.

APA Style

lottery. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/lottery

lottery

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