raffle

Meanings

Noun

• A drawing, often held as a fundraiser, in which tickets or chances are sold to win a prize.
• A game of dice in which the player who throws three of the same number wins all the stakes.
• refuse; rubbish

Verb

• To award something by means of a raffle or random drawing, often used with off.
• To participate in a raffle.

Origin

• From Middle English rafle, from Old French rafle, raffle, from rafler, from Frankish *raffolōn, from Proto-Germanic *hrapōną, *hrēpōną, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kreb(h)-, *(s)kerb(h)-, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-. Cognate with Middle Dutch raffel, German raffen, Old English hreppan.
• See raff.