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lots

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Financial, Acronyms, Idioms, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.04 sec.
lots. The casting of lots was an ancient method of making a choice, settling a dispute, or determining a course of action. In biblical times lots were cast to determine the will of God (it is believed that the Urim and Thummim, mysterious sacred objects carved on the breastplate of the high priest, were originally used for casting lots and determining a course of action), to discover the guilty, to select officials, and in numerous other instances. The lot, probably a stone, die, or other object, was cast upon the ground, the manner of its fall determining the question in doubt; in other cases, lots were cast into a receptacle and drawn from it. It is possible that dice originated not as a game but as a device for casting lots.
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, was the owner of several hundred lots on the island of Manhattan; of one hundred and twenty-three in the city of Brooklyn; of nearly as many in Williamsburg; of large undivided interests in Milwaukie, Chicago, Rock River, Moonville, and other similar places; besides owning a considerable part of a place called Coney Island.
Autobiography of a Pocket-Handkerchief by Cooper, James Fenimore View in context
Archer had always been inclined to think that chance and circumstance played a small part in shaping people's lots compared with their innate tendency to have things happen to them.
The Age of Innocence by Wharton, Edith View in context
The above paragraph in the original editions (1726) takes another form, commencing:-"I told him that should I happen to live in a kingdom where lots were in vogue," &c.
Gulliver's Travels by Swift, Jonathan View in context
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