raf·fle 1 (r?f??l)n. A lottery in which a number of persons buy chances to win a prize.v. raf·fled, raf·fling, raf·fles v.tr. To dispose of in a raffle. Often used with off.v.intr. To conduct or take part in a raffle.[Middle English rafle, a game using dice, from Old French, act of seizing, dice game, perhaps of Germanic origin.]raf?fler n.raf·fle 2 (r?f??l)n. Rubbish; debris.[Probably from French rafle, act of seizing, from Old French; see raffle1.]American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.Raffles (?ræf?lz) n (Biography) Sir Thomas Stamford. 1781?1826, British colonial administrator: founded Singapore (1819) as a station for the British East India CompanyCollins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014