Search Result for "lottery": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (2)

1. something that is regarded as a chance event;
- Example: "the election was just a lottery to them"

2. players buy (or are given) chances and prizes are distributed by casting lots;
[syn: lottery, drawing]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Lottery \Lot"ter*y\, n.; pl. Lotteries. [Lot + -ery, as in brewery, bindery.] 1. A scheme for the distribution of prizes by lot or chance; esp., a gaming scheme in which one or more tickets bearing particular numbers draw prizes, and the rest of the tickets are blanks. Fig.: An affair of chance. [1913 Webster] Note: The laws of the United States and of most of the States make private lotteries illegal, except in certain circumstances for charitable institutions; however, many of the states now conduct lotteries tehmselves as a revenue source. [1913 Webster +PJC] 2. Allotment; thing allotted. [Obs.] --Shak. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

lottery n 1: something that is regarded as a chance event; "the election was just a lottery to them" 2: players buy (or are given) chances and prizes are distributed by casting lots [syn: lottery, drawing]
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

LOTTERY. A scheme for the distribution of prizes by chance. 2. In most, if not all of the United States, lotteries not specially authorized by the legislatures of the respective states are prohibited, and the persons concerned in establishing them are subjected to a heavy penalty. This is the case in Alabama, Connecticut Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia. In Louisiana, a license is granted to sell tickets in a lottery not authorized by the legislature of that state, on the payment of $5000, and the license extends only to one lottery. In many of the states, the lotteries authorized by other states, are absolutely prohibited Encycl. Amer. h.t.