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# the luck of the draw

phrase (idiom, noun phrase, «the luck of the draw»)

«the luck of the draw» in the English dictionary: in the primary school — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## In the primary school

Source: Mova's pupils' dictionary. Licence: [Elamur Cosmic License](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/LICENSE/). Reviewed: the dictionary the pupils of Mova's primary school read; its examples quote the lessons and public-domain tales. Ships with Mova.

### Meaning

1. (everyday) the result depended on chance, not on skill or on anyone's fault.
2. (literal) the result of drawing lots or picking a card or ticket at random.

### In the lessons

People say it to accept a bad (or good) result calmly and to say no one is to blame: a hard exam question, a bad seat, a tough opponent. Neutral, all English-speaking countries. In maths it links to probability.

### Examples

- (sport) We got the best team in the first round — just the luck of the draw.
- (school) Some got easy questions, some hard; it's the luck of the draw.
- (job) Which office you get is the luck of the draw.
- (chat) got the worst seat on the plane, luck of the draw
- (maths) Picking a red ball from a bag of 3 red and 7 blue is the luck of the draw: the chance is 3 out of 10.
- (raffle) She won the bike — the luck of the draw!
- (comfort) Don't blame yourself, it was the luck of the draw.

### Note

Trap: it means pure chance, not cheating or skill. It is used to comfort or excuse; sometimes people say it to hide that a choice was not really random. In probability: each outcome has a chance, but you can't control which one you get.