Added 9 October 2026
raffle
/ˈɹæfl̩/ noun
noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about raffle at Wordnik → Where our words come from →
-
A drawing, often held as a fundraiser, in which tickets or chances are sold to win a prize.
He entered a raffle to win a lifetime supply of toothpaste, but he did not win.
- A game of dice in which the player who throws three of the same number wins all the stakes.
- The system by which cases are assigned to judges in multi-sala courts.
verb
noun
Origin
From Middle English rafle, from Old French rafle, raffle (“dice game", also "plundering”), from rafler (“to snatch, seize, carry off”), from Frankish *raffolōn, from Proto-Germanic *hrapōną, *hrēpōną (“to scratch, touch, pluck out, snatch”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kreb(h)-, *(s)kerb(h)- (“to turn, bend, shrink”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to turn, bend”). Cognate with Middle Dutch raffel (“dice game”), German raffen (“to snatch away, sweep off”), Old English hreppan (“to touch, treat, attack”).
From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)