lottery
n. countablen. a game where people buy tickets with numbers on them to try and win a large prize. You win if your numbers match the ones chosen by chance.
n. a method of raising money or distributing prizes by selling numbered tickets and selecting winners through a random draw. Often used metaphorically to describe a situation whose outcome depends entirely on luck.
She won a million dollars in the national lottery.
The city uses a lottery to decide which students get into the most popular schools.
Securing a high-paying job in such a competitive market can feel like a lottery, where timing and connections often outweigh individual merit.
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.
Often used with the verb 'play' or 'win'; frequently appears in the phrase 'birth lottery' to describe inherited social advantages.
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genetic lottery
The concept that any advantageous or disadvantageous genetic traits and abilities that a person inherits from their parents are largely determined by chance.
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ghetto lottery
A financial windfall obtainable by a socioeconomically disadvantaged person.
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win the lottery
To experience an extraordinary or highly fortunate event.