| 释义 |
▪ I. lot, n.|lɒt|
Forms: 1 hlot, hlott, hlodd, 2–8 lott, 4–6 lote, 4–7 lotte, (4 loth, 4–6 loot, 5 loote, lootte), 2– lot.
[OE. hlot neut. (rendering L. sors, portio):—OTeut. type *hluto-m, f. the wk. grade of the root *hleut- (: hlaut-: hlū̆t-) occurring in the str. vb. OE. hléotan, OS. hliotan, OHG. lioȥan (MHG. lieȥen), ON. hlióta, to cast lots, obtain by lot. The precise formal equivalent of the Eng. word is not found elsewhere exc. perh. in OFris. hlot (? neut.), MDu. lot neut. (also masc.), Du. lot neut.; but synonymous ns. from the same root appear in all the Teut. langs. From the wk. grade are, besides those already mentioned, OHG. (h)luȥ masc., ON. hlut-r, hlot-r masc. (MSw. luter, loter, Sw. lott, Da. lod), hlute wk. masc.; from the form *hlaut- are OE. hlýt, hlét, hlíet masc. (:—OTeut. *hlauti-z), Goth. hlaut-s masc. (rendering κλῆρος), OS. hlôt masc., OHG. (h)lôȥ masc. and neut. (MHG. lôȥ masc. and neut., mod.G. loos, los neut.); cf. also ON. hlaut fem., blood of sacrifice. The Teut. word was adopted into the Rom. langs.: F. lot (whence lotir to divide, in OF. to cast lots), It. lotto game of chance, Sp., Pg. lote lot, Sp. loto ‘lot’ put up to auction. Probably some of the uses of the Eng. word are due to the influence of F. lot.
The primary meaning of the Teut. root *hleut- is uncertain. Schrader has suggested that it may have been formed by secondary ablaut from the wk.-grade *hlut- (repr. pre-Teut. kḷd-: see holt) in the n. *hluto-m, the primary sense of which would then be the piece of wood used in casting lots. But this conjecture is very doubtful, and not free from difficulties.]
1. a. An object (app. usually a piece of wood) used in a widely diffused ancient method of deciding disputes, dividing plunder or property, selecting persons for an office or duty, etc., by an appeal to chance or the divine agency supposed to be concerned in the results of chance. The ‘lots’, each bearing the special mark of one of the competitors, were placed in a receptacle (in Homeric Greece a helmet); according to Greek procedure the vessel was shaken, the winning lot being that which fell out first; in Scandinavia (see Vigf. s.v. hlutr) the winning lot was drawn out by an uninterested party. In Eng. (exc. in rare modern instances, chiefly translations from ancient langs.) the word in this sense occurs only in the phr. to cast, draw († also lay, put, send, throw, warp) lots (or † lot); followed by on or upon, over, between, for (the object or objects concerned); also by inf. or indirect interrog. clause.
In genuine OE. idiom the vb. governing hlot was weorpan to throw (see warp v.); cf. G. das loos werfen, L. sortes conicere, Gr. κλῆρον βάλλειν. In ME. werpe was superseded by the synonymous cast and throw. The OE. use of sendan is a Latinism, after mittere of the Vulgate. The only forms of the phrase that survive are to cast lots (arch.) and to draw lots (cf. F. tirer au sort), which is interpreted as synonymous with to draw cuts (cut n.1 1).
971Blickl. Hom. 229 Hie sendon hlot him betweonum, hwider hyra ᵹehwylc faran scolde to læranne. c1000Ags. Gosp. Matt. xxvii. 35 Hiᵹ to-dældon hys reaf & wurpon hlot [L. sortem mittentes] þær-ofer. c1205Lay. 13858 Vmbe fiftene ȝer þat folc his isomned..& heore loten werpeð vppen þan þe hit faleð he scal uaren of londe. c1275Passion our Lord in O.E. Misc. 50 Ac hi casten heore lot hwes he scolde beo. a1300E.E. Psalter xxi. 18 And mi cleþinge lote kaste þai on. c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 124 Lotes did þei kast, for whom þei had þat wo. 1382Wyclif 1 Sam. xiv. 42 Sende ȝe lot bitwixe [1535 Coverdale Cast the lot ouer, 1611 Cast lots betweene] me and Jonathas my sone. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 1933 Ariadne, Euery thridde yere..They caste lot, and as it fil a-boute On riche or pore, he muste his sone take [etc.]. c1420Lydg. Assembly of Gods 1569 Mathy and Barnabe, drawyng lottys, stood. c1475Partenay 3184 Thay haue caste ther loote certes you vppon. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 455 The French men..had divided the prisoners and spoyles among them, and had cast lottes for them. c1611Chapman Iliad vii. 153 Each markt his lot, and cast it in, to Agamemnons caske. 1647Jer. Taylor Lib. Proph. xi. 171 The lot was throwne, and God made to be Judge. 1703Burchett Naval Trans. iii. xix. (1720) 391 That the Regiments should cast Lots which of them should go on shore first. 1725Pope Odyss. xiv. 239 note, The sons cast lots for their patrimony. 1744Col. Rec. Pennsylv. IV. 722 The several Nations had drawn Lots for the performance of the Ceremony. 1813Hogg Queen's Wake 26 Their numbers given, the lots were cast, To fix the names of first and last. 1840J. H. Newman Par. Serm. (1842) v. xv. 296 Supposing we had to cast lots for some worldly benefit. a1851J. Baillie Ethwald iii. iv. Wks. (1851) 150 Ethw. (giving a soldier a helmet filled with lots) Here, take the lots and deal them fairly round. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 341 Some ingenious kind of lots which the less worthy may draw. 1888E. B. Tylor in Archæol. Rev. Mar., Specimens of the sticks or other lots cut with patterns, which were used in the re-distribution of the communal plots of land.
b. In abstract sense: The casting or drawing of lots, or the use of any equivalent process, to obtain a decision. Chiefly in phr. by lot (occas. † by lots). Also fig.
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2415 Þe stalworþest me ssal bi choys & bi lot al so Chese out. 1382Wyclif Num. xxxiii. 54 The which ȝe shal dyuyde to ȝou bi lot. 1390Gower Conf. III. 130 So as it falleth upon lot. 1568Grafton Chron. I. 95 They were of the Countrie of Germany, and put out of their Countrie by a maner & sort of a Lot, which is sundrie times used in the sayde lande. a1591H. Smith Serm. (1637) 797 Mathias is chosen by lots, to the Apostleship. 1642R. Harris Serm. 43 Let's put it to the Lot. 1649Milton Eikon. xv, But that controversy divine lot hath ended. 1651Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxx. 184 Good Counsell comes not by Lot, nor by Inheritance. 1802Paley Nat. Theol. xxvi. (1819) 457 The distribution of provision may be made by lot, as it is in a sailor's mess. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 125 The ancients knew that election by lot was the most democratic of all modes of appointment. 1884tr. Lotze's Logic 400 The only remaining possibility is either the lot, or the decision of some external will.
c. The choice resulting from a casting of lots. In phr. the lot falls († limps) on (a person or thing).
c1205[see 1]. 13..E.E. Allit. P. C. 194 And ay þe lote, vpon laste, lymped on Ionas. 1568Grafton Chron. I. 29 Then he caused lots to be cast out, to know who should be king, and the lot fell upon the tribe of Beniamin. 1653H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xxix. 115 Lots were cast five times..and all those five times the lot fell still on a little Boy of seven years of age. 1855Prescott Philip II, ii. vii. (1857) 284 The lot fell on Egmont to devise some suitable livery.
d. fig. the lot is cast: the decisive step is taken. (Cf. die n.)
1682Otway Venice Preserv. iv. i, Now the lot's cast, and, fate, do what thou will. 1855Browning Statue & Bust 55 Calmly he said that her lot was cast, That the door she had passed was shut on her Till the final catafalk repassed.
e. Phr. to cast (or throw) in one's lot with: to associate oneself with and share the fortunes of. (After Prov. i. 14 where the expression has its literal sense, with reference to partition of plunder.)
1382Wyclif Prov. i. 14 Lot ley with vs, o bagge of monee be of vs alle. 1535Coverdale ibid., Cast in thy lott amonge us, we shal haue all one purse. 1678Bunyan Pilgr. i. 6, I intend to go along with this good man, and to cast in my lot with him. 1740Wesley Wks. (1872) I. 283 Seven or eight and forty likewise..desired to cast in their lot with us. 1834Gen. P. Thompson Exerc. (1842) III. 39 She [England] must abide the chances with those with whom she hast cast in her lot. 1867Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) I. App. 708 We find East-Anglia heartily throwing in its lot with Wessex. 1870[see throw v.1 41 e]. 1927Daily Express 15 June 11/7 Mr. Patrick O'Maille..threw in his lot recently with Professor Magennis' party, Clainn Eireann.
† f. to put in lot: ? to put (money) in a joint venture or speculation. Obs.
1594Blundevil Exerc. i. xii. (1636) 34 Foure Merchants did put their money in lot in this manner.
†g. sing. and pl. Applied to games of chance. Also, to divinatory appeals to chance; hence occas. a sortilege, spell. Obs.
1577J. Northbrooke Dicing (1843) 139 Whosoeuer vseth this chaunce of lottes in ydle and trifling things taketh the name and prouidence of God in vaine. 1621Burton Anat. Mel. ii. ii. iv. (1651) 275 Many too nicely take exceptions at Cardes, Tables and Dices, and such mixt lusorious lots. 1625Bacon Ess., Envy (Arb.) 515 There is no other Cure of Enuy, but the cure of Witchcraft: and that is, to remoue the Lot (as they call it) and to lay it vpon another. 1649Alcoran 63 Consult not with Southsayers or Lots, it is a great sin. 1777Johnson L.P., Cowley, I cannot but suspect Cowley of having consulted on this great occasion the Virgilian lots.
†h. pl. As the name of a particular game. Obs.
1579Twyne tr. Petrarch's Physic agst. Fortune i. xxvi. 35, I delight moreover to play at Lottes [L. calculis]. Reason. O chyldishe desyre..for olde doating men to stande gaping ouer a payre of tables, and a fewe rouling peeces of wood, by stealth robbing or falling in.
2. What falls to a person by lot.
a. That which is assigned by lot to a person as his share or portion in an inheritance, or in a distribution of property; a division or share of property made by lot. Phr. † to give in or to lot (or lots) to: to allot to. Also, to fall to (or † in) the lot of.
c950Lindisf. Gosp. Luke xv. 12 Da mihi portionem substantiae, sel me dæl vel hlodd fæes. 958Grant in Birch Cartul. Sax. III. 230 On Fearnes felda ᵹe byrað tweᵹa manna hlot landes in to Sudwellan. a1300Cursor M. 6964 In a land þat hight sichim, Was gin in loth to ioseph kin [Fairf. was giuen to loth Ioseph kin]. a1300Ibid. 10385 To godd þe lambes he gaf to lottes. 1382Wyclif Josh. xv. 1 The lot [1388 part] of the sones of Juda, bi her kynredis, was this. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xiv. xii. (1495) 473 Effraym had many pertyculer hylles and dennes, for all y lotte of the lygnage is moost in mountaynes & in wodes. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xiii. 58 Þat cuntree es called Galilea Gentium, and it fell in þe lote of Zabulon and of Neptalim. 1535Coverdale Ps. xv[i]. 6 The lott is fallen vnto me in a fayre grounde, yee I haue a goodly heretage. 1697Dryden æneid x. 739 Thy Barrs, and Ingots, and the Sums beside, Leave for thy Childrens Lot. 1737Bolingbroke Study & Use Hist. vii. 188 The whole ten provinces were thrown into the lot of France. 1850Robertson Serm. Ser. iii. vii. 92 When the revenues of a cathedral or a cure fell to the lot of a monastery. 1862Stanley Jew. Ch. (1877) I. xii. 225 One lot, and one only, they were to have; the rest they were to carve out for themselves.
b. Phr. † to have (or win) lot with (a person) of or in (a thing), also † to have lot and dole (cut, cavel) with: to have a share with. Now only to have no (neither) part nor lot in, after Acts viii. 21.
c1150Burgh Lawis liv. in Anct. Laws & Cust. Burghs Scot. (1868) 26 Et sciendum est quod stallangiator nullo tempore potest habere loth cut neque cavyl de aliquo mercimonio cum burgense nisi infra quando quilibet potest habere loth et cavyl. c1200Ormin 4030 Ȝiff þatt teȝȝ wolldenn habbenn lott Wiþþ himm inn eche blisse. Ibid. 9847 & winnenn lott wiþþ Abraham Off eche blisse inn heoffne. c1200Vices & Virtues (1888) 111 Nis non mihte on godes temple ðat ne hafþ lott and dole mid ðessere eadiȝe mihte. a1240Ureison in Lamb. Hom. 187 Hwa se euer wule habbe lot wiþ þe of þi blisse, he mot deale wiþ þe of þine pine on eorþe. c1449Pecock Repr. iii. i. 277 The preestis and dekenes of the Oold Testament schulden not haue part and lott in the firste parting of the lond of Iewry. 1582N. T. (Rhem.) Acts viii. 21 Thou hast no part, nor lot in this word. 1611Ibid., Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter [Gr. οὐκ ἔστι σοι µερὶς οὐδὲ κλῆρος ἐν τῷ λόγῳ τούτῳ]. 1825Macaulay Ess., Milton (1851) I. 24 Having neither part nor lot in human infirmities. 1833H. Martineau Cinnamon & P. vi. 102 Rayo and his countrymen had no part nor lot in the harvests of their native land.
†c. One's turn (to do something); originally, as determined by lot. Obs.
c1200Ormin 133 Att ænne time whanne hiss lott Wass cumenn upp to þeowwtenn, He toc hiss reclefatt onn hand, Annd ȝede innto þe temmple. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 1887 Ariadne, Now cometh thy lot, now comestow on the rynge. c1386― Friar's Prol. 27 Lat hym seye to me What so hym list; whan it comth to my lot, By god, I shal hym quiten euery grot. 1611Bible Luke i. 9. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 561 Gabriel, to thee thy cours by Lot hath giv'n Charge and strict watch that to this happie place No evil thing approach or enter in.
d. fig. That which is given to a person by fate or divine providence; esp. one's destiny, fortune, or ‘portion’ in this life; condition (good or bad) in life. Phr. the lot falls (to a person), (it) falls to the lot of (a person), or it falls to (him) as his lot (to have or to do something). Also in colloq. phr. to be or to have had (one's) lot.
a1300Cursor M. 14108 Þe better lott has mari chosen. Ibid. 14555 Þat was sir Iudas scarioth Of alle him fell þe werst lot. 1549Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. Eph. 2 We wer chosen vnto the lotte and enheritaunce of immortalitie. 1576Fleming Panopl. Epist. 226 A minde satisfied with his appointed lotte. 1586B. Young Guazzo's Civ. Conv. iv. 179 Therefore let vs make triall, to whose Lot it shal befall to beare the swaie. 1611Bible Transl. Pref. ⁋2 If any man conceit, that this is the lot and portion of the meaner sort onely. ― Isa. xvii. 14 This is the portion of them that spoile vs, and the lot of them that robbe vs. 1667Milton P.L. ix. 952 However I with thee have fixt my Lot, Certain to undergoe like doom. 1671― Samson 1743 Bewailing His lot unfortunate in nuptial choice. 1684Bunyan Pilgr. ii. 205 Shall it be my Lot to go that way again. 1711Steele Spect. No. 155 ⁋1 That Part of the Fair Sex whose Lot in Life is to be of any Trade. 1764Goldsm. Trav. 178 He sees his little lot the lot of all. 1769–72Junius Lett. Pref. 10 They..confess that they are dissatisfied with the common lot of humanity. 1799R. Sickelmore Agnes & Leonora II. 196 Agnes..enjoyed a greater portion of real bliss than in general falls to the lot of mortals. 1813Scott Rokeby iii. xxviii. Song, A weary lot is thine, fair maid. 1820W. Irving Sketch Bk. I. 7 It has been either my good or evil lot to have my roving passion gratified. 1884W. C. Smith Kildrostan 72 Some pet scheme or other, To remedy the lot of our poor folk. 1891Sir R. Webster in Law Times XC. 431/1 It falls to my lot to express in a few words [etc.]. 1960Observer 24 Jan. 5/2 When the bogies sus you and take your trousers to the forensic lab you've had your lot. 1961J. Maclaren-Ross Doomsday Book i. vii. 77 Any trouble, mush, and it's your lot. Ibid. ii. v. 156 That's your lot, Marsh! This isn't one of your crime-plays, d'you hear. 1968Listener 18 July 77/2 ‘Mummy, Tristram has just dropped your handbag into something rustic.’ ‘Right, that's your lot. Into the car, and we'll get back to civilisation.’ 1973Times 12 Dec. 2/7 Hate slogans scrawled on a blackboard. One read, ‘Tina Wilson is going to be done over,’ and another, ‘Tina Wilson has had her lot tonight.’
†3. In the Ormulum: A part, portion, or division of anything; a number (of things or persons) forming part of a larger whole. Obs. (Cf. sense 8.)
c1200Ormin 10939 Þise cullfress Þat sinndenn i þiss middellærd An lott off manne fode. Ibid. 15248 Þe maste lott tatt heȝhesst iss Iss þatt lærede genge Þatt iss ȝuw sett abufenn ȝuw To ȝemenn & to lærenn..Þiss lott off all Crisstene follc Iss heȝhesst unnderr Criste. Ibid. 19017, 19150.
4. a. A tax, due, or custom. scot and lot (formerly also † lot and scot): see scot.
1530Palsgr. 241/1 Lotte or shotte, escot. 1628Coke On Litt. 283 That it was done by authority of the Commission of Sewers for Lotte or Taxe assessed by that Commission.
b. Derbyshire Mines. A payment of the thirteenth ‘dish’ of lead as royalty to the lord of the mine. (Cf. lot-lead in 10.)
1631,a1661[see cope n.3 3]. 1653E. Manlove Lead Mines 76 The thirteenth dish of oar within their mine, To th' Lord for Lot, they pay at measuring time. 1747Hooson Miner's Dict. M j b, The chief Proprietor and Lord of the Mine; to whom Lot or Farm is paid by the Miner. 1851Act. 14 & 15 Vict. c. 94 Sched. i. §9 The Duty called Lot is and shall be One Thirteenth Part of all Ore raised within the Jurisdiction of the Barmote Courts.
†5. A prize in a lottery. great lot, chief lot, the highest prize. Obs. [After Rom. uses; cf. F. le gros lot] Also in the card-game (see lottery).
† it is lots to blanks = ‘it is a thousand to one’.
1567Lottery Chart Aug., The number of Lots [in a Lottery] shall be Foure hundreth thousand, and no moe: and euery Lot shall be the summe of Tenne shillings sterling onely, and no more. 1607Shakes. Cor. v. ii. 10 It is Lots to Blankes, My name hath touch't your eares. 1634Wither Emblems, Direction at end, If it be the upper Figure, whose Index you moved, than, that Number where⁓upon it resteth, is the number of your Lot, or Blancke. 1698Wheel of Fortune 2 Some more lucky Sot, Had march'd off with his Lot, And that was the Thousand pound Chance. 1709Steele Tatler No. 170 ⁋6 You, who have both the furnishing and turning of that Wheel of Lots. 1710Ibid. No. 203 ⁋2 The Chief Lot he was confident would fall upon some Puppy. 1711Addison Spect. No. 191 ⁋1 Each of these..thinks he stands fairest for the great Lot. 1850Bohn's Handbk. Games 327 (Lottery), One of them [dealers] deals a card to each player; all these cards are to remain turned, and are called the lots. 1876‘Capt. Crawley’ Card Players' Man. 235 (Lottery), One dealer gives to every player a card, face downwards, for the lots or prizes.
6. a. (Now chiefly U.S.) A plot or portion of land assigned by the state to a particular owner. Hence, any piece of land divided off or set apart for a particular purpose, e.g. for building or pasture. Phr. across lots or cross lots: across the lots or fields as a short cut (U.S. colloq.). Also attrib., as lot gate. b. (? Influenced by sense 7.) One of the plots or portions in which a tract of land is divided when offered for sale. Also, land round a film studio where outside filming may be done.
1633Mass. Col. Rec. (1853) I. 102 The westermost part of the Governors greate lot. 1641Connect. Col. Rec. (1850) I. 505 To Jacob, my sonne, I giue my howse and lotts, meadow, homelotte and great lott and lottes whatsoeuer on this side the great Riuer. 1689Col. Rec. Pennsylv. I. 317 If y⊇ Province will build me a house in the City, vpon my Lott. 1776G. Semple Building in Water 154 E. and F. are twenty Lots for Docks,..p. and q. Thirty Lots for principal Merchants..to store their Imports and Exports. 1805Forsyth Beauties Scotl. II. 473 Each of these freemen possesses what is called a lot or freedom, containing about four acres of arable land. 1836Backwoods of Canada 47 Every little dwelling..has its lot of land. Ibid. 89 The plains are sold off in park lots. 1840Miss Mitford in L'Estrange Life III. vii. 109 The lot, about an acre, is to be sold on the first of next month. a1852F. M. Whitcher Widow Bedott Papers (1883) xxii. 87 You see yer uncle and me went hum by the turnpike instid o' gwine cross lots. 1854Jrnl. Discourses I. 83 [I dreamed that] I cut one of their throats from ear to ear, saying, ‘Go to hell across lots.’ 1858J. R. Lowell Two Gunners in Poetical Works II. 125 Joe looked roun' And see (acrost lots in a pond..) A goose. 1859Bartlett Dict. Amer. s.v., ‘I left the road and went across lots, to shorten the distance’, i.e. across the open fields or meadows. 1875Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 700 Each of the lots in the plain had an appointed chief..the size of the lot was a square of ten stadia each way. 1879H. George Progr. & Pov. vii. i. (1881) 303 A house and the lot on which it stands are alike property. 1887Scribner's Mag. Dec. 735/1 He'd have had to foot it by the path 'cross lots... He's sold his hoss. 1928‘R. West’ Strange Necessity 205 The worst of making war, as of acting for the ‘movies’, is the amount of waiting around on the lot. 1929W. Faulkner Sartoris iv. 281 Restless hounds waited for them at the lot gate. 1937Partridge Dict. Slang 538/1 The most picturesque phrase of all is ‘the lot’, which is always used to describe the company's land surrounding the studio. It has been in use since the days when..hard-pressed pioneers rented vacant building lots. 1938M. K. Rawlings Yearling xv. 153 As he clicked the lotgate, doves flew from the pines with a whistling of wings. 1948‘N. Shute’ No Highway vi. 151 Don't you ask me why, I'll tell you when I see you on the lot. 1966Listener 15 Dec. 880/1 Many lots are devoted to the less arduous and expensive work of turning out films for television networks. 1969in Halpert & Story Christmas Mumming in Newfoundland 174 Then commenced the chase, up lanes, ‘across lots’, down lanes.
7. a. An article, or set of articles, offered separately at a general sale; esp. each of the items at a sale by auction.
1704Lond. Gaz. No. 4060/5 Lot 65. Cont. Brown Sugar. 1755Johnson, Lot (4), a portion; a parcel of goods as being drawn by lot: as, what lot of silks had you at the sale? 1772–84Cook Voy. (1790) V. 1571 In general, we paid for each lot or separate article as we received them. 1821Byron Juan iii. xv, He had chain'd His prisoners, dividing them like chapters In number'd lots. 1859Chamb. Jrnl. 23 Apr. 270/2 Lot after lot was disposed of..at what were considered good prices. 190119th Cent. 426 Lot 1 was brought up in a box.
b. transf. Applied with depreciatory epithet to a person; chiefly in a bad lot.
1862Mrs. H. Wood Channings xxxvii, [A schoolboy says:] Charley's not a bad lot, and he sha'n't be harmed. 1881J. Grant Cameronians I. i. 7 He had come home..with the current reputation, among his set, of being ‘a bad lot’. 1894Mrs. H. Ward Marcella III. 345, I'm a bad lot, I know—well, an idle lot—I don't think I am a bad lot.
8. a. gen. A number of persons or things of the same kind, or associated in some way; a quantity or collection (of things); a party, set, or ‘crew’ (of persons); also, a quantity (of anything). Now only colloq., except with reference to articles of commerce, goods, live stock, and the like. Often with some degree of depreciation, either implied, or expressed by an epithet. (Cf. sense 3.)
c1575J. Hooker Life Sir P. Carew (1857) 49 The next day the people, like a lot of wasps, were up in sundry places. 1725in G. Sheldon Hist. Deerfield, Mass. (1895) I. 449 Our men..discovered a partie of the Enemy that had killed a mare & a Lott of men. 1789Bentham Princ. Legisl. xvi. §16 On the one hand a lot of punishment is a lot of pain; on the other hand the profit of an offence is a lot of pleasure. 1805T. Holcroft Bryan Perdue I. 30 Put all the countries in the world in a bag, and the whole lot of them not worth little I-reland. 1854Mrs. Carlyle Lett. (1883) II. 249 Mr. C― being too busy with his book to waste a month at present, besides having a sacred horror of two several lots of children who were to be there. 1872Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 140 The Good Samaritan, on the dump of which a large lot of ore has accumulated. 1879W. Benham Mem. Cath. & Crau. Tait 501 Their crew seem to have been a lazy lot. 1883Harper's Mag. Jan. 206/2 The men who do this work are an interesting lot. 1884E. R. Turner in Law Times 30 Aug. 310/1 The defendant saw the calves, one of which, the only wye calf in the lot, was poorly. 1884West. Morn. News 30 Aug. 1/6 The above will be found to be an altering lot of Stock. 1897M. Kingsley W. Africa 348 He said the natives were an exceedingly bad lot.
b. the lot = the whole of a certain number or quantity. colloq.
1867Mrs. H. Wood Orville Coll. I. xi. 252, I caught young Dick buying a quart [of gooseberries]. He's crunching the lot. 1877Fraser's Mag. XVI. 381 ‘What is your fare?’..‘A shilling for the lot’. 1886Stevenson Dr. Jekyll i. (ed. 2) 8 There was something about the lot of us that meant mischief. 1936W. R. Titterton Chesterton i. ii. 30 If I quoted much of that marvellous essay I should have to quote the lot. 1956H. & M. Williams Plays of Year XV. 178 It was to be a big wedding—the full treatment— Royalty—the lot. 1958Listener 3 July 10/2 They are said to cure everything from rheumatism to ringworm, colic to snake-bite..—the lot. 1961[see croak v. 5]. 1970Times 7 Jan. 7/5 The death of his father..triggers off a crisis for him too, producing a temporary breakdown, dismissal from his job, separation from his wife, the lot. 1974‘P. B. Yuill’ Bornless Keeper vii. 65 They've searched the island twice—helicopters, dogs, the lot.
9. colloq. A considerable number, quantity, or amount; a good deal, a great deal. Used in sing. (a lot) and plur.; also as quasi-adv. Often absol., without explicit mention of the persons or things intended. Also with adj., as a good lot, a great lot, (this, that) little lot.
1812Spirit Pub. Jrnls. XVI. 191 Lots of our Senators have of late been subject to the awful visitation. 1816‘Quiz’ Grand Master ii. 47 Gallons of Arrack, lots of beer. 1835Keble in Sir J. T. Coleridge Mem. (1869) 201 Till you have read a good lot of the Fathers. 1849Clough Poems, etc. (1869) I. 158 You see lots of villas, six or seven at least, in ruins. 1853Ld. Houghton in T. W. Reid Life (1891) I. xi. 491 General B... who is factotum of the Court, and who has lots of gossip. 1858Mrs. Carlyle Lett. II. 368 Having had lots of time to unpack and dress. 1886Cornh. Mag. July 41 There was plenty of cider—a lot too much, indeed. 1891E. Peacock N. Brendon I. 69 Good bye, I've lots to do. 1894H. Nisbet Bush Girl's Rom. 306 The colony could get lots more to take your post, if they hanged you. 1898J. D. Brayshaw Slum Silhouettes 141 Yus, it's a nobby little turn-out, ain't it?.. Mine? Lor' luv a duck! No, that's Sal Hogan's little lot. 1901Blackw. Mag. Aug. 223/1, I would give a lot to have had Raeburn paint her. 1901A. Hope Tristram of Blent x. 113 But, mind you, Duplay's a very superior fellow. He knows the deuce of a lot. 1920J. Mander Story N.Z. River v. 76, I just love you, lots. 1957‘J. Wyndham’ Midwich Cuckoos iii. 24 That there Miss Ogle ain't 'alf goin' to cop 'erself a basinful of 'Er Majesty's displeasure over this little lot. 1961B. Crump Hang on a Minute 91 Have a bo-peep at this little lot, Jack, called Sam from the back of the truck. 1965[see buster 2 b]. 1968Listener 1 Aug. 148/1 Mr Donoghue, like any good critic, doesn't mean us, he means you lot. 1975P. G. Winslow Death of Angel 125 A group of lads she doesn't care about... Next stop Wormwood Scrubs, that little lot.
10. Comb., as (sense 6) lot-holder; (sense 1) lot-casting ppl. adj.; lot-jumper U.S., one who appropriates another's lot; † lot-layer American, one appointed to lay out land in lots; † lot-lead Mining (see quot. and cf. sense 4 b); lot-man, † (a) a pressed seaman; † (b) an alleged synonym for pirate; (c) Sc. see quot. 1890; lot-mead, -meadow, a common meadow, the shares in which are apportioned by lot; lot-money (see quot. and sense 7); † lot-monger, one who practises sortilege; † lot-pot, an urn from which lots are shaken or drawn (cf. lottery-pot s.v. lottery 5); lot-seller, -selling (see quots.); † lot-teller, a fortune-teller.
1569J. Sandford tr. Agrippa's Van. Artes 2 b, A *lot⁓castinge Arithmetician.
1852Grote Greece ii. lxxix. X. 407 Kleruchs or *lot-holders.
1869Overland Monthly III. 63 Then there had been a *lot jumper's fight down at the end of the street. 1889in J. B. Thoburn Stand. Hist. Oklahoma (1916) I. xx. 223 Gamblers, liquor dealers,..lot-jumpers. 1931G. F. Willison Here they dug Gold 241 Counterfeiters, lot-jumpers, mine-jumpers,..and ruffians in general.
1677New Eng. Hist. & Gen. Reg. (1873) XXVII. 48 It was agreed that..the *lot layers of both ends of the town..are apointed to consider tender cases.
c1480Mendip Laws in Phelps Hist. Somerset vii. (1839) 6 So that he doth..pay his *lott lead, which is the tenth pound which shall be blown on the hearth or hearths.
1758J. Blake Plan Mar. Syst. 28 The number of volunteer seamen, together with the *lot-men.., may not be sufficient to man the navy. 1887Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Lotman, an old term for pirate. 1890Scots Observer 1 Feb. 296/1 The lotman was the thresher and he was to be found erewhile on every farm of the Lowlands.
1553Stanford Churchw. Acc. in Antiquary XVII. 117/2 For grasse in the *loot mede yt belongythe to ye churche ijs. 1659–70Aubrey Topogr. Collect. Wilts (1862) 198 Here [Wanborough] is a Lott-mead celebrated yearly with great ceremony. 1813T. Davis Agric. Wilts App. 259 Lot-Meads, common meadows divided into acres or equal sized pieces; but the property to the hay of each piece being determined yearly by lot.
1675W. Leonard Reports iv. 43 Where many have *Lot-Meadow to be divided every year by lot who shall have the Grass of such an Acre, and who of such an Acre, &c. 1878G. Marriott tr. E. de Laveleye's Prim. Property 114 In many English villages meadows are still found divided into parts, which are annually assigned by lot among the co-partners. These are called lot meadows or lammas land.
1725Lond. Gaz. No. 6363/2 The Buyer is to pay down in Part Five Guineas each Lott, and the Goods are to be taken away..on or before the 21st of May.., or the *Lott-Money forfeited.
1549Chaloner Erasm. on Folly R iv b, That law was fyrste ordeined against *lottemongers, enchaunters, and sorcerers.
1603Florio Montaigne i. xix. (1632) 31 Of all shak't is the *lot-pot [Hor. Carm. ii. iii. 26 omnium versatur urna]. 1619Gataker Lots 4 The tickets or tokens that were cast into the Lot⁓pot.
1851Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 447 The *Lot-sellers proper, are those who vend a variety of small articles, or ‘a lot’, all for 1d.
Ibid., The origin of ‘*lot-selling’, or selling ‘penny lots’ instead of penny articles, was more curious.
1575(title) A Dialogue of Witches, in foretime named *Lot-tellers, and now commonly called Sorcerers [tr. Danæus].
Add:[6.] c. A plot of land used for parking cars, spec. (a) for sale or hire (esp. in (used) car lot); (b) = parking lot s.v. parking vbl. n. 3 b. Chiefly N.Amer.
1939W. Saroyan Peace, it's Wonderful 31 All I do now is hang around this used car lot and wait for people to come around and start asking questions about the jalopies we're showing. 1959L. Lipton Holy Barbarians 25, I didn't shuck the customers enough to please the crook who was running the car lot. 1968J. Irving Setting Free Bears (1979) ii. 166 Grandfather—who's parked and locked the taxi in the lot at Karl's Church—walks Hilke and the cookie crock home. 1979J. Raban Arabia through Looking Glass iv. 144 Coming into Abu Dhabi we passed a huge desert lot filled with parked cars. 1985Weekly World News (U.S.) 1 Jan. 3/1 She paid $20 000 for her new hot rod, and drove it off the lot.
[10.] (sense 6 c) lot attendant.
[1974S. Terkel Working iv. 219 He is forty-nine and has been a parking lot attendant for about thirty years.] 1979Arizona Daily Star 5 Aug. (Advt. Section) 2/6 *Lot Attendant for used car lot. Apply in person. 1986Jrnl. (Fairfax Co., Va.) 23 May c10 (Advt.), Alamo Rent-a-Car is expanding... We are hiring: Rental Agents, Bus Drivers and Lot Attendants.
▪ II. lot, v.|lɒt|
Also 5 lote, 6 lott(e, Sc. loitt.
[f. lot n. Cf. F. lotir to cast lots, assign by lot.]
I. intr.
1. To cast lots. Const. interrog. clause; also with for. rare.
1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 65/1 Wherfore now stande euerich in his tribe and we shal lote who shal be our kyng. [1600Heywood 1st Pt. Edw. IV, iii. i. Wks. 1874 I. 46 King. Well, let's cast lots whether thou shalt go with me [etc.]. Hobs. Lot me no lotting. I'll not go with thee. ]1642R. Harris Serm. 43 Let's put it to the Lot. Lot upon your selves; and let each Parliament man say, Am I ready? a1657W. Bradford Plymouth Plant. (1856) 216 A cowe [was given] to 6. persons or shars, & 2. goats to y⊇ same, which were first equalised for age & goodnes, and then lotted for. 1795J. Sullivan Hist. Maine 188 The house lots were all lotted for, except such as were allowed to be pitched by the old proprietors.
2. Sc. To pay a ‘lot’ or assessment. Only in connexion with scot v., q.v.
3. to lot upon, to count or reckon upon; rest one's hopes on; depend or rely on; look for, hope for, expect. Now U.S.
[1633D. Rogers Treat. Sacraments i. 165 Doe ye know the way unto him by the Supper..? Doe ye lot upon it, that there (if any where)..the broken peace of your consciences..is to be revived?] 1642― Naaman 565 Its a maxime: lot upon it, whether thou see it so or not, it will be so. 1658W. Gurnall Chr. in Arm. ii. ver. 16. xix. 656 The soul that was even now pining to death with despair, and lotting upon hell in his thought. 1662Ibid. iii. ver. 18. ii. xix. §2. 642 As the Saints are covetous of prayers, so they lot upon it that you do pray for them. 1868Mrs. Whitney P. Strong ii. (1869) 27, I can't help lotting on it all the time. 1894M. E. Wilkins in Brit. Weekly 16 Aug. 258 All these six weeks..had Emma Jane lotted upon it.
II. trans.
4. To assign to one as his share or portion; to assign as one's lot or destiny. Also with out; and in indirect passive.
1524Wolsey Let. to Hen. VIII in Strype Eccl. Mem. I. iv. 53 Your archers shall be lotted and appointed..to every part. 1562Eden Let. to Sir W. Cecil, xxli thereof to be lotted to me for an earnest penye to begynne the booke. 1594Carew Huarte's Exam. Wits xiii. (1596) 219 He who first deuised Chesse-play..lotted as many cheefe men to the one side as to the other. 1596Drayton Legends iii. 286 So well had Fortune lotted out my hap. 1606Warner Alb. Eng. xv. xcix. 391 Though she lack not of the age that Scriptures lot to man. 1611Heywood Gold. Age ii. i. Wks. 1874 III. 29 She Must be her bed-companion, so tis lotted. 1648Symmons Vind. Chas. I 291 They being by the Providence of God lotted under his government. 1823Byron Age of Bronze vi, A live estate, existing but for thrall, Lotted by thousands, as a meet reward For the first courtier in the Czar's regard. 1832Fraser's Mag. V. 684 Was more e'er lotted to the vulgar swarm? 1898T. Hardy Wessex Poems 71 Fifty thousand sturdy souls..Who..were lotted their shares in a quarrel not theirs.
†b. To appoint or allot to do or to be (something): = allot v. 4. Obs.
1573Twyne æneid xii. (1584) S viij, And I alonly lotted am King Turnus to assay. 1637B. Jonson Sad Sheph. ii. i, Your brother Lorells prize! For so my largesse, Hath lotted her, to be your brothers Mistresse.
†5. To impose a tax, due, or impost upon. Obs.
1543–4Act 35 Hen. VIII, c. 11 §4 Two Iustices of peace shall haue ful power..indifferently to lot and tax euery citie boroughe and towne within the shire.
6. To divide (land) into lots, esp. for assignment to private owners. Usually with out: To portion out and allot (to a person or persons).
c1449[see lotting vbl. n.]. 1561Norton & Sackv. Gorboduc i. ii. 151 As for diuiding of this realme in twaine, And lotting out the same in egall partes To either of my lordes your Graces sonnes. 1622Peacham Compl. Gentl. ix. (1634) 73 Every man had his owne portion of ground lotted and laid out to him. 1634Rec. Muddy River & Brookline, Mass. (1875) 9 That Hogg Island shall be lotted out unto the inhabitants and freemen of this town. 1647Mass. Col. Rec. (1853) II. 195 Waymoth haveing a swamp, supposed to be above 100 acres, they are granted liberty to lot it out amongst themselues. 1736in E. Hyde Hist. Winchendon, Mass. (1849) 75 The Committee to lot and lay out the first division. 1805Forsyth Beauties Scotl. (1808) V. 202 A village is lotted out, and to each lot of building ground is appropriated a small croft. 1823Byron Juan x. xxxv, Lotting others' properties Into some sixty thousand new knights' fees. 1836A. A. Parker Trip to the West 167 A few years ago a town was lotted out in this place. 1879Lubbock Addr. Pol. & Educ. ix. 156 A considerable part of the site was..lotted out in sites for cottages. 1891E. Chase Dartmouth Coll. I. 611 The remainder of the grant..was lotted, and some of it rented on long leases about 1821.
7. To divide or group into lots for sale. Also with out.
1709Lond. Gaz. No. 4595/4 They are lotted into small Parcels. 1821Byron Juan iv. xci, Lady to lady, well as man to man, Were to be chain'd and lotted out per couple, For the slave-market of Constantinople. 1837Advt. in Willis & Clark Cambridge (1886) III. 120 The Stone Wall..and the Coping..surmounted by Nine Balls..will be sold in one Lot; excepting the Balls, which will be lotted in Pairs. 1861Temple Bar I. 145 The furniture was lotted out for the auctioneer's hammer. 1880Advt. in Echo 23 Nov. 4/2 A Stock of about 300 dozen choice Wines, lotted to suit the Trade and Private Buyers. 1893Vizetelly Glances Back II. xxvii. 110 The auctioneer's man who lotted the goods.
8. To cast lots for; to divide, apportion, or distribute by lot. Now rare.
1703S. Sewall Diary 22 Mar., Mr. Banister and I Lotted our Fence on Cotton-Hill:..He chose to put it to Lot. 1723Ibid. 2 Mar., The Children's Plate and Linen is divided into Six parts, and then Lotted. 1839Bailey Festus xiii. (1848) 124 Men who have..bought up truth for the nations; parted it, As soldiers lotted once the garb of God.
9. To choose (pressed men) by lot for service. Obs. exc. Hist.
1758J. Blake Plan Mar. Syst. 5 The other captain..is..to send the officers under him on board merchant ships, in order to lot the men. 1893J. H. Turner Hist. Brighouse 254 John Marsden who was lotted or pressed for a soldier in Wellington's time.
10. To portion off by lot.
1849Grote Greece ii. xlvi. V. 496 The newly-created panels of salaried dikasts, lotted off in ten divisions from the aggregate Heliæa.
▪ III. lot
var. late n.1 Obs., look, sound.
▪ IV. lot
obs. form of lote, lotus. |