A lottery is a type of gambling game in which people buy numbered tickets. Several numbers are then chosen, and the people who have those numbers on their tickets win a prize.
...the national lottery.
Synonyms: raffle, draw, lotto [British, New Zealand, South Africa], sweepstake More Synonyms of lottery
2. singular noun
If you describe something as a lottery, you mean that what happens depends entirely on luck or chance.
The stockmarket is a lottery.
Which judges are assigned to a case is always a bit of a lottery.
Synonyms: gamble, chance, risk, venture More Synonyms of lottery
lottery in British English
(ˈlɒtərɪ)
nounWord forms: plural-teries
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
Word origin
C16: from Old French loterie, from Middle Dutch loterije. See lot
lottery in American English
(ˈlɑtəri)
nounWord forms: pluralˈlotteries
1.
a game of chance in which people buy numbered tickets, and prizes are given to those whose numbers are drawn by lot: sometimes sponsored by a state or organization as a means of raising funds
2.
any undertaking that involves chance selections, as by the drawing of lots
military draft lottery
Word origin
MFr loterie < MDu loterije < lot, lot
Examples of 'lottery' in a sentence
lottery
What would you do if you won the lottery jackpot?
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
My first year in the squad was the first of the national lottery.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Many lottery winners apparently struggle to adjust to their wealth.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Planning services have become a postcode lottery.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The moon in your chart adds luck to lottery tickets.
The Sun (2016)
It also emerged yesterday that some face a postcode lottery over their energy bills.
The Sun (2016)
It was like winning the lottery.
The Sun (2017)
And a postcode lottery for services means sufferers struggle to get suitable treatment in many regions, the report found.
The Sun (2016)
He had a lottery win.
The Sun (2016)
It is the eighth big win for a UK player this year in the Europe-wide lottery game.
The Sun (2016)
What would you do if you won the lottery jackpot?
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
The moon shines its luckiest light on you and playing the lottery or bingo could be rewarding.
The Sun (2010)
The same reputational halo hovers over our national lottery.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
The only thing worse than unimaginative lottery winners are miserable lottery winners.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Will charities win in the new lottery game?
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
Your connection speed can also be something of a postcode lottery.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
It would be like waiting to win a lottery.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Unlike some of our competitors whose postcode lottery pricing means prices can vary across their forecourts.
The Sun (2013)
There are spaces left but applicants are selected by a lottery system.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
The moon spins through your prize chart to add luck to lottery tickets.
The Sun (2012)
Maybe we should have played the lottery instead!
The Sun (2008)
And the art the lottery winners make of themselves is gauche and clichéd.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
There is a danger of the game becoming a lottery.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Whether or not you learn to play an instrument through school is a postcode lottery.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Other lottery players have been able to dream of how they would spend their millions if they won.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
There were also legal concerns as the government is not allowed to replace public funding with lottery money.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
Money from taxpayers and lottery players is being siphoned into training opportunities for athletes from often wealthy backgrounds.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Now we have smart coaches who through the national lottery are being given the tools to do the job.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
The newest money is lottery money.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
He had been close to his uncle and was with him on the day that he found out about his lottery win.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Time for a wake-up call by taking over lottery funding for movies?
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
Lottery funds should cover the first 21 million.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
The postcode lottery means 17.4 per cent of appeals against speeding camera fines in the capital are successful.
The Sun (2016)
If payment is in cash, then the trustee will select bonds by lottery and use the cash to redeem them at par.
Charles A. D'Ambrosio & Stewart D. Hodges & Richard Brealey & Stewart Myers Principles of Corporate Finance (1991)
THE lone winner of a 3million lottery jackpot has yet to claim the prize.
The Sun (2010)
In other languages
lottery
British English: lottery /ˈlɒtərɪ/ NOUN
A lottery is a type of gambling in which people bet on a number or a series of numbers being chosen as the winner. Lotteries usually offer large cash prizes and are often organized so that a percentage of the profits is donated to good causes.
...the national lottery.
American English: lottery
Arabic: يَانَصِيبٌ
Brazilian Portuguese: loteria
Chinese: 六合彩
Croatian: lutrija
Czech: loterie
Danish: lotteri
Dutch: loterij
European Spanish: lotería
Finnish: arpajaiset
French: loterie
German: Lotterie
Greek: λοταρία
Italian: lotteria
Japanese: 宝くじ
Korean: 복권
Norwegian: lotteri
Polish: loteria
European Portuguese: lotaria
Romanian: loterie
Russian: лотерея
Latin American Spanish: lotería
Swedish: lotteri
Thai: สลากกินแบ่ง
Turkish: piyango
Ukrainian: лотерея
Vietnamese: sổ xố
Chinese translation of 'lottery'
lottery
(ˈlɔtərɪ)
n(c)
(= game) 彩票 (cǎipiào) (张(張), zhāng)
(fig) 难(難)料的事 (nánliào de shì)
1 (noun)
Definition
a method of raising money by selling tickets by which a winner is selected at random
the national lottery
Synonyms
raffle
There will be more great prizes to be won in our latest raffle.
draw
I hear you won a case of whisky in the Christmas draw.
lotto (British, New Zealand, South Africa)
If you won the lotto, what would you do with the money?
sweepstake
2 (noun)
Definition
a venture whose outcome is a matter of luck
Which judges are assigned to a case is always a bit of a lottery.
Synonyms
gamble
the President's risky gamble in calling an election
chance
I certainly think it's worth taking a chance.
risk
This was one risk that paid off.
venture
a Russian-American joint venture
hazard
a sole that reduces the hazard of slipping on slick surfaces
toss-up (informal)
Additional synonyms
in the sense of chance
Definition
a risk or gamble
I certainly think it's worth taking a chance.
Synonyms
risk,
speculation,
gamble,
hazard
in the sense of draw
Definition
a raffle or lottery
I hear you won a case of whisky in the Christmas draw.
Synonyms
raffle,
lottery,
sweepstake,
tombola
in the sense of hazard
Definition
risk or likelihood of injury, loss, etc.
a sole that reduces the hazard of slipping on slick surfaces
Synonyms
danger,
risk,
threat,
problem,
menace,
peril,
jeopardy,
pitfall,
endangerment,
imperilment
Nearby words of
lottery
lot
loth
lotion
lottery
lotto
loud
loudly
Synonyms of 'lottery'
lottery
Explore 'lottery' in the dictionary
Additional synonyms
in the sense of lotto
Definition
(in certain countries) the national lottery
If you won the lotto, what would you do with the money?
Synonyms
lottery,
national lottery,
draw,
raffle,
sweepstake
in the sense of risk
Definition
a person or thing considered as a potential hazard
This was one risk that paid off.
Synonyms
gamble,
chance,
venture,
speculation,
leap in the dark
in the sense of venture
Definition
a project or activity that is risky or of uncertain outcome