raffle
pronunciation
How to pronounce raffle in British English:
UK [ˈræfl]
How to pronounce raffle in American English:
US [ˈræfəl]
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- Noun:
- a lottery in which the prizes are goods rather than money
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- Verb:
- dispose of in a lottery
Word Origin
- raffle
- raffle: [14] Raffle was originally the name of a game played with three dice; the modern application to a ‘prize draw’ did not emerge until the 18th century. The word was borrowed from Old French raffle ‘act of snatching’, but where this came from is not known.
- raffle (n.)
- late 14c., "dice game," from Old French rafle "dice game," also "plundering," perhaps from a Germanic source (compare Middle Dutch raffel "dice game," Old Frisian hreppa "to move," Old Norse hreppa "to reach, get," Swedish rafs "rubbish," Old High German raspon "to scrape together, snatch up in haste," German raffen "to snatch away, sweep off"), from Proto-Germanic *khrap- "to pluck out, snatch off." The notion would be "to sweep up (the stakes), to snatch (the winnings)." Dietz connects the French word with the Germanic root, but OED is against this. Meaning "sale of chances" first recorded 1766.
- raffle (v.)
- "dispose of by raffle," 1851, from raffle (n.). Related: Raffled; raffling.
Example
- 1. You told me you won those shoes at a raffle .
- 2. I sell raffle tickets for several charities every year .
- 3. We 're going to raffle a bottle of champagne .
- 4. Mr willet has kindly offered to sell raffle tickets .
- 5. We 're about to draw the winning card , ladies and gentlemen , so please look at your raffle tickets .