lucky dip
- noun
- UK
:
sorpresa
- For her birthday, she organized a lucky dip where guests could randomly select gifts.
Examples
-
At the fair, we decided to try our luck and take a chance with a lucky dip for some surprises.
-
But rather than showing you some equations, we've turned this into a game of lucky dip to help me run this model.
-
The children eagerly waited their turn to pick a prize from the lucky dip box at the party.
Synonyms
115
4.1
An act of choosing someone or something by chance
57
2.7
A situation where the result is decided by chance, not planning
49
4.4
A game where players mark numbers on a card and hope to win money
1
2.9
A way to decide between two options by flipping a coin
A decision that depends mostly on chance
How Fair
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a game/process of choosing something at random' is directly derivable from 'lucky' (by chance) combined with 'dip' understood as the act of dipping/drawing something from a container — literally taking a dip in hope of being lucky. This compositional logic is common cross-linguistically (e.g. 'grab bag') and follows ordinary English noun+action composition, so a B1 learner who knows both words would likely infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Lucky dip may come from old fair games where people put their hand into a covered box to take a hidden prize. Because you dip your hand in and hope to be lucky, the phrase now means 'choose at random' or a 'surprise' gift.