overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

raffle.

A drawing, often held as a fundraiser, in which tickets or chances are sold to win a prize.

6 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈɹæfl̩/

  1. 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.

  2. A game of dice in which the player who throws three of the same number wins all the stakes.

    obsolete

  3. The system by which cases are assigned to judges in multi-sala courts.

    Philippines
Where this word comes from

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”).

verb/ˈɹæfl̩/

  1. To award something by means of a raffle or random drawing.

    often · transitive
    They raffled off four gift baskets.

  2. To participate in a raffle.

    intransitive
    to raffle for a watch
Where this word comes from

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”).

noun/ˈɹæfl̩/

  1. Refuse; rubbish.

    dated · uncountable
Where this word comes from

See raff.

FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

raffle has 6 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

raffle studioraffle workshello, raffle

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.