sweepstakes

sweep·stakes

S0939000 (swēp′stāks′)pl.n. (used with a sing. or pl. verb)1. A contest, often promoting a product or service, in which participants enter without paying to win usually one of several prizes. Winners are selected at random from the pool of entrants.2. a. A lottery in which the participants' contributions form a fund that is awarded as a prize to one or several winners.b. An event or contest, especially a horserace, the result of which determines the winner of such a lottery.c. The prize won in such a lottery.

sweep•stakes

(ˈswipˌsteɪks)

also sweep′stake`,

n. (used with a sing. or pl. v.) 1. a race or other contest for which the prize consists of the stakes contributed by the various competitors. 2. the prize itself. 3. a lottery in which winning tickets are selected at random, each winning-ticket number then being matched to one of the horses nominated for or entered in a specific race, and the amounts paid the winners being determined by the finishing order of the horses that run. 4. any gambling transaction in which each participant contributes a stake, and the stakes are awarded to one or several winners. [1485–95; orig., a person who won all the stakes in a game]

Thesaurus

Noun

sweepstakes - a lottery in which the prize consists of the money paid by the participantslottery, drawing - players buy (or are given) chances and prizes are distributed by casting lotsplural, plural form - the form of a word that is used to denote more than one

sweepstakes

sweepstakes,

contest or race, usually a horse race, on which a lottery is run. Prizes are awarded to the holders of winning tickets. In the case of a horse race, the draw is made from the names of all the horses entered in the race and vast numbers of blanks. Thus most ticket holders draw blanks, while only a few draw the name of a horse. In some sweepstakes, prizes are awarded to persons holding tickets bearing the name of horses that win, place, and show, while in others prizes are given also to those whose tickets bear the names of all the horses that started in the race. In still another form of sweepstakes, the tickets sold bear numbers, some of which are to be assigned to the horses that will run in the race. The term sweepstakes may also refer to the total amount of money contributed. The Irish Hospitals Sweepstakes is probably the most popular in existence today. Because of a scandal over the Louisiana lottery, the U.S. Congress in 1890 passed a law making it illegal in the United States to import, to send through the mails, or to ship in interstate commerce any sweepstakes tickets. In 1963 a legal state sweepstakes lottery was initiated in New Hampshire to provide funds for state education. Other states soon followed with similar lotteries.

sweepstake

(esp US), sweepstakes1. a. a lottery in which the stakes of the participants constitute the prize b. the prize itself 2. any event involving a lottery, esp a horse race in which the prize is the competitors' stakes

sweepstakes

sweep·stakes

sweep•stakes

also sweep′stake`,

sweepstakes

sweepstakes,

sweepstake

sweepstakes

Words related to sweepstakes

noun a lottery in which the prize consists of the money paid by the participants

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