English

Noun

luck of the draw ‎(uncountable)

1. (idiomatic) The random production of favorable or unfavorable results; chance.
   • 1973, Sheila Sutcliffe, Martello Towers, ISBN 9780838613139, p. 63:

     [A] dry ditch or moat . . . should have been constructed around towers in particularly exposed or vulnerable positions but in some cases it seems that they were selected by the luck of the draw.

   • 1996 May 21, Carey Goldberg, "Best-Selling Author, but Not at Home," New York Times (retrieved 8 June 2013):

     [I]s it merely the luck of the draw that turns some novels into blockbusters and others of equal merit into also-rans?

   • 2005 August 10, "What You Need to Know on Smoking and Lung Cancer," Time:

     If you've never been a smoker and you develop lung cancer, how did you get it? Is it genetics, environment, radon, luck of the draw?

Synonyms

• happenstance

References

• luck of the draw at OneLook Dictionary Search