lottery

nouncommon in dialogue

United Kingdom//ˈlɒtəɹi//
United Kingdom//ˈlɒtɹi//
United States//ˈlɑtɚi//

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.

noun

1
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.
Dave plays the lottery almost every week, but always picks different numbers.
2
figurativeSomething decided by chance.
It's a bit of a lottery whether we'll get a good table in that diner.
3
obsoleteAllotment; a thing allotted.

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian lotteria, from the same root as Old English hlot (cognate with English lot). Compare French loterie (from Middle Dutch loterie). By surface analysis, lot + -ery.

Forms

plural: lotteries

Lotta · A diminutive of the female given name Charlotta.lotte · burbot (fish)Lotte · A diminutive of the female given name Charlotte.

lottery · 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…

lotto · a game of chance similar to bingo lotus · Any member of the genus Nelumbo of aquatic plants in the…Lotus · A British manufacturer of cars.

The neighbouring pages — Alphabetical order follows the rules of the language, not byte values: an accent decides only between two otherwise identical words, and Spanish files Ñ as a letter of its own.