A competition based on chance, in which numbered tickets are sold and prizes are given to the holders of numbers drawn at random. It is especially common as a means of raising money for the state or a charity. It was also once a popular form of gambling, and the action of playing in a lottery is often called lotto.

Historically, many states have used lotteries to raise money for a wide variety of public works projects and other social purposes, including building churches, schools, canals, and roads. Lotteries also played a major role in financing colonial America, with Benjamin Franklin using one to fund cannons for the city of Philadelphia during the American Revolution. Lottery revenues tend to expand rapidly at first, but eventually plateau and even decline. This has led to the introduction of new games, such as scratch-off tickets, in order to maintain or increase revenues.

Shirley Jackson’s short story The Lottery describes an annual tradition in a village that involves everyone participating, from infants to elders, in a lottery where someone is chosen for a human sacrifice on the basis of a proverb such as “Lottery in June, corn will be heavy soon.” While some critics of the story have taken offense at its depiction of ancient savages and its insinuation that ordinary people are capable of murder, others have appreciated the power of the piece’s message about the way money can change people. In particular, it shows how winning a large sum of money can alter a person’s life dramatically.