Meanings
raffle1
plural raffles
- A drawing, often held as a fundraiser, in which tickets or chances are sold to win a prize.
He entered a raffle to win a lifetime supply of toothpaste, but he did not win.
1 more example
The raffle was a big success—too big, in fact.
1953 August 6, Jet, volume 4, Johnson Publishing Company, page 22 - obsoleteA game of dice in which the player who throws three of the same number wins all the stakes.
present singular third person raffles · participle present raffling · participle past raffled · past raffled
- intransitiveTo participate in a raffle.
to raffle for a watch
raffle2
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
raffle · noun, verb
- Proto-Indo-European*(s)ker-“to turn, bend”
- Proto-Indo-European*(s)kreb(h)-
- Proto-Germanic*hrapōną
- Frankish*raffolōn
- Old Frenchrafle
- Middle Englishrafle
- Englishraffle
From Middle English rafle, from Old French rafle, raffle (“dice game", also "plundering”), from rafler (“to snatch, seize, carry off”), from Frankish *raffolōn, from Proto-Germanic *hrapōną, *hrēpōną (“to scratch, touch, pluck out, snatch”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kreb(h)-, *(s)kerb(h)- (“to turn, bend, shrink”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to turn, bend”). Cognate with Middle Dutch raffel (“dice game”), German raffen (“to snatch away, sweep off”), Old English hreppan (“to touch, treat, attack”).
More words from Middle English, Old French, Frankish
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian томбола
- томбола (tombola)drawing
Catalan rifa, rifar
- rifadrawing
- rifarto award by means of a raffle
Chinese Mandarin 抽彩
- 抽彩 (chōucǎi)drawing
Danish tombola
- tomboladrawing
Finnish arpajaiset, arvonta
- arpajaisetdrawing
- arvontadrawing
- arpoato award by means of a raffle
French tombola, mettre en tombola
- tomboladrawing
- mettre en tombolato award by means of a raffle
German Tombola, Verlosung
- Tomboladrawing
- Verlosungdrawing
- verlosento award by means of a raffle
Hebrew הַגְרָלָה
- הַגְרָלָה (hagralá)drawing
Hungarian tombola, sorsolás
- tomboladrawing
- sorsolásdrawing
- sorsjátékdrawing
- kisorsolto award by means of a raffle
Italian estrazione, estrazione a premi
- estrazionedrawing
- estrazione a premidrawing
- lotteriadrawing
- estrazione del lottodrawing
- riffadrawing
- arriffareto award by means of a raffle
Japanese 抽選
- 抽選 (chūsen)drawing
Korean 추첨
- 추첨 (chucheom)drawing
Māori rāwhara, rāwhara
- rāwharadrawing
- rāwharato award by means of a raffle
Polish losowanie
- losowaniedrawing
Portuguese rifa, rifar
- rifadrawing
- rifarto award by means of a raffle
Russian лотере́я
- лотере́я (lotɛréja)drawing
Scottish Gaelic rafail
- rafaildrawing
Spanish rifa, mita
- rifadrawing
- mitadrawing
- rifarto award by means of a raffle
- quintarto award by means of a raffle
Swedish utlottning, tombola
- utlottningdrawing
- tomboladrawing
- lotta utto award by means of a raffle
- utlottato award by means of a raffle
Tagalog ripa
- ripadrawing
Turkish piyango
- piyangodrawing
Vietnamese xổ số
- xổ sốdrawing
Yiddish גורל
- גורל (goyrl)drawing
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with raffle
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
raffle. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/raffle
“raffle.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/raffle. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “raffle,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/raffle.
Source: raffle on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.