raffle, rafie

[Fr. rafle (O. Fr. raffle ), from rafter =to catch or seize, from German raffeln = to snatch up, frequent. of raffen =to sweep, to snatch, to raff (q. v.).] *1. A game at dice. According to Cotgrave, one with three dice in which he who threw all alike won the stakes. "Most commonly they use rafte . That is, to throw in with three dice, till duplets and a chance be thrown; and the highest duplets win, except you throw in and in, which is called raffle ; and that wins all." - Dryden : Mock Astrol oger, iii. 2. A chance or lottery in which some article is put up by the owner to be drawn or thrown for by sev eral persons who subscribe a small sum each, he who draws or throws the winning number to be come po e or of the article. The money subscribed goes to the original owner of the article. "Instead of piddling for the little prizes which are to be found in what may be called the paltry raffle of colony faction."- Smith : Wealth of Nations, iv. 7. raffle-net, s. A kind of fishing net. *1. A spar, a beam. "Aythir grip us a schafte, Was als rude as a rafte ." Avowynge of King Arthur , xxv. 2. A sort of float or framework, consisting of logs or other pieces of timber fastened together side by side, for convenience in transporting them down rivers, acro harbors, . 3. A floating structure made and used in the emergency of shipwreck. Rafts are made of materials usually acce ible on shipboard, spars lashed together by ropes, the flotative power being increased by empty casks lashed in the structure. When made and furnished as a part of a ship's equipment they are constructed with pontoons, and provided with stanchions and ropes, which form a protection against persons falling or being washed overboard. Such a raft is carried in a collapsed condition for compact stowage, and is more readily launched in that le bulky condition; after it is in the water it is brought into working shape by the IMG:content-0170.png:[blocks in formation] 5. A large number; a host. ( U.S. ) raft-bridge, s. Hydr. Eng.: A bridge of expediency, where rafts are used as pontoons to support the beams and the track.