lot

plural lots

1. A large quantity or number; a great deal.

   lots of people think so

   3 more examples

   win the whole lot (of money); i.e. jackpot

   He wrote to her […] he might be detained in London by a lot of business.

   1877, William Black, Green Pastures and Piccadilly, volume 2, page 4

   I filled my dreener in no time, and then it come to me that 'twouldn't be a bad idee to get a lot more, take 'em with me to Wellmouth, and peddle 'em out.

   1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter III, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC, page 52

   Synonyms: load, mass, pile

2. A separate, appropriated portion; a quantized, subdivided set consisting a whole.

   a lot of stationery

   1 more example

   The Lord divided the land to the tribes, each according to his lot.

   Synonyms: batch, collection, group, set

3. One or more items auctioned or sold as a unit, separate from other items.

   This is an important lot. Very sorry, but we can't go on with the selling until we know more where we are.

   1927, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados Mysteries

4. informalA number of people taken collectively.

   you lot

   2 more examples

   a sorry lot

   a bad lot

   Synonyms: crowd, gang, group

5. A distinct portion or plot of land, usually smaller than a field.

   a building lot in a city

   1 more example

   The defendants leased a house and lot, in the City of New-York

   1820, James Kent, edited by William Johnson, Reports of cases adjudged in the Court of Chancery of New-York, volume 5, published 1822

   Synonyms: allotment, parcel, plot

6. That which happens without human design or forethought.

   But save my life, which lot before your foot doth lay.

   1590, Edmund Spenser, “(please specify the book), Canto V”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 1

   Synonyms: chance, accident, destiny, fate, fortune, chance, destin, destiny

7. Anything (as a die, pebble, ball, or slip of paper) used in determining a question by chance, or without human choice or will.

   to cast lots

   3 more examples

   to draw lots

   The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Proverbs 16:33

   If we draw lots, he speeds.

   c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii]

8. The part, or fate, that falls to one, as it were, by chance, or without one's planning.

   We seem to be made to suffer. It's our lot in life.

   1977, C-3PO, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

   3 more examples

   O visions ill foreseen! Each day's lot's / Enough to bear.

   1667, John Milton, “Book XI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC

   He was but born to try / The lot of man — to suffer and to die.

   1725, Homer, “Book III”, in [Alexander Pope], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume I, London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC

   […] as Jones alone was discovered, the poor lad bore not only the whole smart, but the whole blame; both which fell again to his lot on the following occasion.

   1749, Henry Fielding, chapter II, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book III

9. A prize in a lottery.

   In the lottery[…] Sir R. Haddock one of the Commissrs of the Navy had the greatest lot, £3000 ; my coachman £ 40

   1694 November 21 (Gregorian calendar), John Evelyn, “[Diary entry for November 12 1694]”, in William Bray, editor, Memoirs, Illustrative of the Life and Writings of John Evelyn, […], 2nd edition, volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […]; and sold by John and Arthur Arch, […], published 1819, →OCLC

   Synonyms: prize

10. Allotment; lottery.

    Archons served only for one year and, since 487/6, they were chosen by lot. Generals, on the other hand, were chosen by direct election and could be reelected without limit.

    1990: Donald Kagan, Pericles of Athens and the Birth of Democracy, chapter 2: “Politician”, page 40 (Guild Publishing; CN 2239)

11. definitethe lotAll members of a set; everything.

    If I were in charge, I'd fire the lot of them.

    1 more example

    The table was loaded with food, but by evening there was nothing but crumbs; we had eaten the lot.

12. historicalAn old unit of weight used in many European countries from the Middle Ages, often defined as 1/30 or 1/32 of a (local) pound.

present singular third person lots · participle present lotting · participle past lotted · past lotted

1. datedtransitiveTo allot; to sort; to apportion.

   Sometimes the contractor would lot the work out to some sub-contractor, and he, after the men had worked for a month, would run away, and we should never see the colour of his money.

   1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, published 1861

2. USdatedinformalTo count or reckon (on or upon).

alternative Lut

1. biblicalA nephew of Abraham in the Bible and Quran.

   And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 12:5

2. A male given name from Hebrew of biblical origin; rare today.

1. error lua execA department of Occitania, France. Capital: Cahors (INSEE code 46).
2. error lua execA right tributary of the Garonne, in southern France, flowing through the departments of Lozère, Cantal, Aveyron, Lot and Lot-et-Garonne.