Lottery Definition
lŏtə-rē
lotteries
noun
lotteries
A contest in which tokens are distributed or sold, the winning token or tokens being secretly predetermined or ultimately selected in a random drawing.
American Heritage
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.
Webster's New World
Any undertaking that involves chance selections, as by the drawing of lots.
Military draft lottery.
Webster's New World
An activity or event regarded as having an outcome depending on fate.
They considered combat duty a lottery.
American Heritage
(figuratively) An affair of chance.
Wiktionary
Other Word Forms of Lottery
Noun
Singular:
lotteryPlural:
lotteriesOrigin of Lottery
French loterie probably from Dutch loterije from Middle Dutch from lot lot
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
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from Italian lotteria, from the same root as Old English hlot (cognate with lot).
From Wiktionary
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