raffle Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a lottery in which the prizes are goods rather than money
  2. verb dispose of in a lottery
    raffle off.
    • We raffled off a trip to the Bahamas

WordNet

Raf"fle noun
Etymology
F. rafle; faire rafle to sweep stakes, fr. rafter to carry or sweep away, rafler tout to sweep stakes; of German origin; cf. G. raffeln to snatch up, to rake. See Raff, v.
Definitions
  1. A kind of lottery, in which several persons pay, in shares, the value of something put up as a stake, and then determine by chance (as by casting dice) which one of them shall become the sole possessor.
  2. A game of dice in which he who threw three alike won all the stakes. Obs. Cotgrave.
Raf"fle intransitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Raffled ; present participle & verbal noun Raffling
Definitions
  1. To engage in a raffle; as, to raffle for a watch.
Raf"fle transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To dispose of by means of a raffle; -- often followed by off; as, to raffle off a horse.

Webster 1913