Definition of "lottery" []

• A contest in which tokens are distributed or sold, the winning token or tokens being secretly predetermined or ultimately selected in a random drawing. (noun)
• A selection made by lot from a number of applicants or competitors: The state uses a lottery to assign spaces in the campground. (noun)
• An activity or event regarded as having an outcome depending on fate: They considered combat duty a lottery. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "_generous_ -- not to say _brave_ -- opponents betook themselves to the county of Anderson, in this Judicial Circuit, and with great difficulty got up an indictment against us, under an old statute, forgotten by gentlemen of the bar, for _advertising a Baltimore lottery scheme_; when they themselves, and their relatives, were dealing in the _Art Union lottery_ in this city!"
• "But like Dunleavy, a spot in lottery is waiting for him."
• "You think the lottery is a shell game you should investigate social security, medicare, medicade. .etc..etc .."