Definition of "to draw lots" []

• (verb-transitive)
• To determine an event, or make a decision, by drawing one thing from a number whose marks are concealed from the drawer. (noun)

Gnu Collaboartive International Dictionary of English: licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

• "But the wind and sea getting up again very badly he was obliged to beat about all night in a very unpleasant situation, with only three sailors who could be relied upon, and a rabble of gaol-birds and longshoremen who were of little use in a tempest but to draw lots and vow pilgrimages."