Jackpot
nounA large cash prize or top reward, especially one that accumulates in a lottery or gambling game.
How to spell jackpot
7 letters · 2 syllables
How to pronounce jackpot
Say the part in capitals loudest.
What does jackpot mean?
- nounA large cash prize or top reward, especially one that accumulates in a lottery or gambling game.
Jackpot in a sentence
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The lottery jackpot rolled over again and reached a record sum.
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A single coin won her the jackpot on the slot machine.
Where does jackpot come from?
Language of origin: Other
Jackpot began as a term in American poker in the late nineteenth century. It described a special pool of money that could only be won once a player held a pair of jacks or better, so the 'jack' refers to the playing card and the 'pot' refers to the accumulated pile of staked money sitting in the middle of the table. Because the pool kept growing while no hand met the opening requirement, it came to suggest a large reward built up over time. By the early twentieth century the meaning had broadened well beyond cards to cover any big cash prize, especially in slot machines and lotteries. From there it spread into general English as a figure of speech for any sudden stroke of great luck or unexpected success.
How the word is built
- jack (knave/card term)
- pot (the pool of money staked in a game)
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