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Glite Dictionary
sweepstake

sweepstake

27 3.7
A competition where people buy tickets and one person wins the money
  • noun
  • /ˈswipˌsteɪk/
translation icon : sorteo
  • A random drawing will take place within 10 days of the end of the sweepstakes.
  • won the sweepstake
  • enter the sweepstake
  • sweepstake entry

Examples

  • Did you win the sweepstakes?

    Stranger on the Third Floor (1940)

  • You're the winner of the million dollar sweepstakes.

    The Late Shift (1996)

  • Only last week he bought an Irish Sweepstake ticket.

    Cabin in the Sky (1943)

  • You won the sweepstakes, man.

    Out of Time (2003)

  • PLUS: Enter the 12 Days of Christmas sweepstakes for your chance to win an awesome prize for the holidays!

    Blog text (5)

  • These are entries into the Frito-Lay sweepstakes.

    Real Genius (1985)

  • Starpulse.com reserves the right to modify the rules of the sweepstakes in any way or at any time.

    Blog text (4)

  • Newspapers commonly resort to sweepstakes or giveaways to boost circulation, including promotions that lead to questions of conflict of interest.

    Academic text (1993)

  • Brandmovers specializes in online games, contests, sweepstakes, and loyalty promotions that deliver measurable results.

    Blog text (5)

  • Only last week he bought an Irish sweepstake ticket.

Synonyms

lottery
vssweepstake
199 2.3

A game where people buy numbered tickets and winners are chosen by chance

is a contest awarding the collected pot rather than fixed ticket prizes
lotto
vssweepstake
49 4.4

A game where players mark numbers on a card and hope to win money

is a general chance contest that focuses on prize distribution, not number patterns
to raffle
vssweepstake
6 3.3

To offer an item as a prize by selling numbered tickets

is entered more generally and awards all collected prizes rather than ticket proceeds
sweepstakes
vssweepstake
  • US
5 5.7

A contest where people enter to win a prize by chance

is the singular form of the same contest term
drawing
vssweepstake
3 3.8

An event where winners are chosen by chance from tickets

is the whole competition including prize awards, not just the selection event

Surface Forms

sweepstake singular
sweepstakes plural

Morphology

sweepstake = sweep + stake (semi-transparent) = sweep + stake

Composed of the recognizable words 'sweep' + 'stake', but the idiomatic sense 'winner takes all' (sweepstakes) is a specialized extension not fully predictable from the components.

Etymology

Sweepstake comes from the two words sweep and stake. Think of a broom 'sweeping' up all the 'stakes', meaning the money people put in, so the winner takes all the prizes.