[countable] live sdy a competition in which people pay to enter and names are chosen by chance: sometimes the prize is money, but it can also be a place at a famous school or a new car. This is different from skill-based competitions, such as a football game or a dance contest, in which the participants must use their own abilities to advance, although there may be luck involved in the selection process.

Lottery can be used to choose almost anything: kindergarten admissions, housing units in a subsidized apartment building, or even political office. It’s often controversial, but it can be a useful tool for distributing scarce resources. In fact, the United States owes its very existence to lotteries: the country’s first church buildings and parts of Columbia University were funded by them.

A lottery is usually run by a state or a private organization for the purpose of raising money. It typically involves a pool of money collected through ticket sales, from which the costs of running and promoting it are deducted. The remaining money is then given away in prizes. Large prizes draw more attention and drive ticket sales, so the jackpots can grow to newsworthy amounts.

While it might seem like good for states, whose coffers swell thanks to ticket sales and winners, studies have shown that lottery money isn’t distributed evenly. Instead, it’s disproportionately spent in poorer neighborhoods and among minorities. In some cases, the winnings are so high that they can hardly be justified by the cost of a ticket.