A competition based on chance, in which numbered tickets are sold and prizes are given to the holders of numbers drawn at random; esp. one conducted as a means of raising money for the state or a charity. Also used figuratively, to describe a situation in which something of value is received by chance or happenstance.

In the United States, lotteries are state-sponsored games of chance where players pay a small sum to have a chance to win a large prize. While lottery revenues provide important funding for public services, many people consider the practice unethical or exploitative, and there is growing concern over the impact that lottery advertising has on vulnerable groups such as poor people and problem gamblers. Lottery commissions argue that they promote the lottery as a game, not a form of gambling, and that players are voluntarily spending their own money (as opposed to being forced by the state to spend their taxes).

While the argument for promoting the lottery as a fun game is persuasive, it obscures its regressivity and fails to address concerns that the system encourages poor and working-class people to use their limited resources in a hopeless pursuit of wealth. Furthermore, the way in which lottery revenues are distributed between the state and specific constituencies creates a dynamic where lottery officials work at cross-purposes with state legislators and governors. The result is that policy decisions are made piecemeal and incrementally, and the lottery industry has become a classic example of state government at work with little or no overall oversight.