- a gambling game or method of raising money, as for some public charitable purpose, in which a large number of tickets are sold and a drawing is held for certain prizes.
- any scheme for the distribution of prizes by chance.
- any happening or process that is or appears to be determined by chance: to look upon life as a lottery.
- a method of raising money by selling numbered tickets and giving a proportion of the money raised to holders of numbers drawn at random
- 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
- an activity or endeavour the success of which is regarded as a matter of fate or luck
