1. [n]  anything (straws or pebbles etc.) taken or chosen at random; "the luck of the draw"; "they drew lots for it"
2. [n]  any collection in its entirety; "she bought the whole caboodle"
3. [n]  an unofficial association of people or groups; "the smart set goes there"; "they were an angry lot"
4. [n]  a parcel of land having fixed boundaries; "he bought a lot on the lake"
5. [n]  (Old Testament) nephew of Abraham; God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah but chose to spare Lot and his family who were told to flee without looking back at the destruction
6. [n]  (often followed by `of') a large number or amount or extent; "a batch of letters"; "a deal of trouble"; "a lot of money"; "he made a mint on the stock market"; "it must have cost plenty"
7. [n]  your overall circumstances or condition in life (including everything that happens to you); "whatever my fortune may be"; "deserved a better fate"; "has a happy lot"; "the luck of the Irish"; "a victim of circumstances"; "success that was her portion"
8. [v]  divide into lots, as of land, for example
9. [v]  administer or bestow, as in small portions; "administer critical remarks to everyone present"; "dole out some money"; "shell out pocket money for the children"; "deal a blow to someone"

1. \Lot\, n. [AS. hlot; akin to hle['o]tan to cast lots, OS.
   hl?t lot, D. lot, G. loos, OHG. l?z, Icel. hlutr, Sw. lott,
   Dan. lod, Goth. hlauts. Cf. {Allot}, {Lotto}, {Lottery}.]
   1. That which happens without human design or forethought;
      chance; accident; hazard; fortune; fate.
   
            But save my life, which lot before your foot doth
            lay.                                  --Spenser.
   
   2. Anything (as a die, pebble, ball, or slip of paper) used
      in determining a question by chance, or without man's
      choice or will; as, to cast or draw lots.
   
            The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole
            disposing thereof is of the Lord.     --Prov. xvi.
                                                  33.
   
            If we draw lots, he speeds.           --Shak.
   
   3. The part, or fate, which falls to one, as it were, by
      chance, or without his planning.
   
            O visions ill foreseen! Each day's lot's Enough to
            bear.                                 --Milton.
   
            He was but born to try The lot of man -- to suffer
            and to die.                           --Pope.
   
   4. A separate portion; a number of things taken collectively;
      as, a lot of stationery; -- colloquially, sometimes of
      people; as, a sorry lot; a bad lot.
   
            I, this winter, met with a very large lot of English
            heads, chiefly of the reign of James I. --Walpole.
   
   5. A distinct portion or plot of land, usually smaller than a
      field; as, a building lot in a city.
   
            The defendants leased a house and lot in the city of
            New York.                             --Kent.
   
   6. A large quantity or number; a great deal; as, to spend a
      lot of money; lots of people think so. [Colloq.]
   
            He wrote to her . . . he might be detained in London
            by a lot of business.                 --W. Black.
   
   7. A prize in a lottery. [Obs.] --Evelyn.
   
   {To cast in one's lot with}, to share the fortunes of.
   
   {To cast lots}, to use or throw a die, or some other
      instrument, by the unforeseen turn or position of which,
      an event is by previous agreement determined.
   
   {To draw lots}, to determine an event, or make a decision, by
      drawing one thing from a number whose marks are concealed
      from the drawer.
   
   {To pay scot and lot}, to pay taxes according to one's
      ability. See {Scot}.
   
   

2. \Lot\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Lotted}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Lotting}.]
   To allot; to sort; to portion. [R.]
   
   {To lot on} or {upon}, to count or reckon upon; to expect
      with pleasure. [Colloq. U. S.]
   
   

(Heb. goral, a "pebble"), a small stone used in casting lots (Num. 33:54; Jonah 1:7). The lot was always resorted to by the Hebrews with strictest reference to the interposition of God, and as a method of ascertaining the divine will (Prov. 16:33), and in serious cases of doubt (Esther 3:7). Thus the lot was used at the division of the land of Canaan among the serveral tribes (Num. 26:55; 34:13), at the detection of Achan (Josh. 7:14, 18), the election of Saul to be king (1 Sam. 10:20, 21), the distribution of the priestly offices of the temple service (1 Chr. 24:3, 5, 19; Luke 1:9), and over the two goats at the feast of Atonement (Lev. 16:8). Matthias, who was "numbered with the eleven" (Acts 1:24-26), was chosen by lot.

This word also denotes a portion or an inheritance (Josh. 15:1; Ps. 125:3; Isa. 17:4), and a destiny, as assigned by God (Ps. 16:5; Dan. 12:13).

Lot, (Heb. lot), a covering; veil, the son of Haran, and nephew of Abraham (Gen. 11:27). On the death of his father, he was left in charge of his grandfather Terah (31), after whose death he accompanied his uncle Abraham into Canaan (12:5), thence into Egypt (10), and back again to Canaan (13:1). After this he separated from him and settled in Sodom (13:5-13). There his righteous soul was "vexed" from day to day (2 Pet. 2:7), and he had great cause to regret this act. Not many years after the separation he was taken captive by Chedorlaomer, and was rescued by Abraham (Gen. 14). At length, when the judgment of God descended on the guilty cities of the plain (Gen. 19:1-20), Lot was miraculously delivered. When fleeing from the doomed city his wife "looked back from behind him, and became a pillar of salt." There is to this day a peculiar crag at the south end of the Dead Sea, near Kumran, which the Arabs call Bint Sheik Lot, i.e., Lot's wife. It is "a tall, isolated needle of rock, which really does bear a curious resemblance to an Arab woman with a child upon her shoulder." From the words of warning in Luke 17:32, "Remember Lot's wife," it would seem as if she had gone back, or tarried so long behind in the desire to save some of her goods, that she became involved in the destruction which fell on the city, and became a stiffened corpse, fixed for a time in the saline incrustations. She became "a pillar of salt", i.e., as some think, of asphalt. (See SALT.)

Lot and his daughters sought refuge first in Zoar, and then, fearing to remain there longer, retired to a cave in the neighbouring mountains (Gen. 19:30). Lot has recently been connected with the people called on the Egyptian monuments Rotanu or Lotanu, who is supposed to have been the hero of the Edomite tribe Lotan.