/ lɒt; NAmE lɑːt/ pronoun , determiner , adverb , noun
■ pronoun
a lot (also informal lots ) lot (to do) a large number or amount :
'How many do you need?' 'A lot.'
Have some more cake. There's lots left.
She still has an awful lot (= a very large amount) to learn.
He has invited nearly a hundred people but a lot aren't able to come.
➡ note at many , much
■ determiner
a lot of (also informal lots of ) a large number or amount of sb/sth :
What a lot of presents!
A lot of people are coming to the meeting.
black coffee with lots of sugar
I saw a lot of her (= I saw her often) last summer.
➡ note at many , much
■ adverb ( informal )
1.
a lot (also informal lots ) used with adjectives and adverbs to mean 'much' :
I'm feeling a lot better today.
I eat lots less than I used to.
2.
a lot used with verbs to mean 'a great amount' :
I care a lot about you.
Thanks a lot for your help.
I play tennis quite a lot (= often) in the summer.
➡ note at much
■ noun
WHOLE AMOUNT / NUMBER
1.
the lot , the whole lot [ sing.+ sing./pl. v . ] ( informal ) the whole number or amount of people or things :
He's bought a new PC, colour printer, scanner—the lot.
Get out of my house, the lot of you !
That's the lot! (= that includes everything)
That's your lot! (= that's all you're getting)
GROUP / SET
2.
[ C +sing./pl. v . ] ( especially BrE ) a group or set of people or things :
The first lot of visitors has / have arrived.
I have several lots of essays to mark this weekend.
( informal )
What do you lot want?
ITEMS TO BE SOLD
3.
[ C ] an item or a number of items to be sold, especially at an auction :
Lot 46: six chairs
AREA OF LAND
4.
[ C ] an area of land used for a particular purpose :
a parking lot
a vacant lot (= one available to be built on or used for sth)
( especially NAmE )
We're going to build a house on this lot.
➡ note at land
LUCK / SITUATION
5.
[ sing. ] a person's luck or situation in life
SYN destiny :
She was feeling dissatisfied with her lot.
•
IDIOMS
- all over the lot
- a bad lot
- by lot
- draw / cast lots (for sth / to do sth)
- fall to sb's lot (to do sth)
- throw in your lot with sb
—more at best
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English hlot (noun), of Germanic origin; related to Dutch lot , German Los . The original meaning was by lot and (by extension) the sense a portion assigned to someone ; this gave rise to the other noun senses. The pronoun and adverb uses date from the early 19th cent.