Talk:lot

What's the difference between definition 3 and 5?

They're completely different. 3 can more or less be swapped with group and the other with eh... destiny, fate, place in life or something like that.

What I want know is, which one of these, if any, refer to the lots in an auction house. Regards, Mannafredo 21:42, 16 February 2008 (UTC)Reply

3 and 5 (9 possibly) are instances of the second sense (separate portion) in fields where lot has become the preferred term.

Auction house sense is 3, not very distinct from 2. DCDuring TALK 10:30, 16 June 2008 (UTC)Reply

Should there be a mention of "the lot" (everything)? "He ate the lot." 81.152.72.174 22:58, 8 July 2010 (UTC)Reply

Added. Equinox ◑ 17:10, 21 July 2010 (UTC)Reply

@Equinox: Is it plural in this meaning? [uncountable; the + ~; usually used with a plural verb]: the whole number or amount of things or persons --Backinstadiums (talk) 15:59, 27 October 2020 (UTC)Reply

I have never heard it starting a sentence, only at the end: "he scoffed the lot!" (he ate all of the food), never *"the lot was/were taken away". Equinox ◑ 10:24, 31 October 2020 (UTC)Reply

How hard is it to find citations to answer one's own question?

• 2012, Raymond J. Burt, Armageddon 37005 AD: A Prophetic Look Into The Future:

  And we see the lot are there, puffing away, and being caught by the banned committee or the antismoking lobby will be outlawed in itself.

• 1990, Michel de Ghelderode, David Willinger, The Siege of Ostend: The Actor Makes His Exit, page 2:

  The lot are products of Sir Jaime' s profane, irrepressible imagination and a rich source of outlandish comedy

• 2012, Basil Jay, 65 Days to Delhi: An Incredible Journey, page 545:

  The lot have now cost us less than £20.

I think of it as referring to countable items, Can it be used with an uncountable mass, as in "I served him mashed potatoes. He ate the lot."? DCDuring (talk) 23:12, 31 October 2020 (UTC)Reply

It would sound equally acceptable to me to say He ate the lot, He ate it all or He ate everything in that situation. I'd say that 'lot' would be short for 'portion of mashed potatoes' and the '-thing' of everything would be short for 'molecule of a culinary item that mashed potatoes consist of (such as potato and milk/butter/cream)' in those sentences though. Both of these noun phrases are countable anyway, which confuses the situation. --Overlordnat1 (talk) 07:58, 22 January 2023 (UTC)Reply

OED: lotta ( Also lotter) 
Colloq. contraction of lot of. 

--Backinstadiums (talk) 15:50, 15 March 2020 (UTC)Reply

OED also has it as a determiner (and a lot, lots too??) --Backinstadiums (talk) 16:05, 27 October 2020 (UTC)Reply