jackpot

Meanings

Noun

• A money prize pool which accumulates until the conditions are met for it to be won.
• A large cash prize or money.
• An unexpected windfall or reward.
• A concentration of surface wood or fuel.
• A large accumulated point bonus, originally awarded after a long set of actions but now often easily available in multiball modes.
• A difficult situation.
• A jumble of felled timber.

Verb

• To issue a jackpot.

Origin

• Attested as jack-pot, 1944; from sense "slot machine" (1932), from obsolete poker sense (1881) "antes that begin when no player has a pair of jacks or better"; from jack + pot.
• Unknown. Criminal slang usage as "trouble, especially an arrest" attested 1902.