jackpot

Meanings

1. A money prize pool which accumulates until the conditions are met for it to be won.
2. A large cash prize or money.
3. An unexpected windfall or reward.
4. A concentration of surface wood or fuel.
5. A large accumulated point bonus, originally awarded after a long set of actions but now often easily available in multiball modes.

1. Of a slot machine, to issue a jackpot.
2. To fraudulently exploit an automatic teller machine so that it dispenses cash that has not been withdrawn from an account.

1. A ball game in which a thrower calls out a point value and whether the ball must be caught "alive" (in the air) or "dead" (having touched the ground), and a group of catchers compete to catch the ball.

1. A difficult situation.
2. A jumble of felled timber.

1. A census-designated place in Elko County, Nevada, United States.

Etymology

Attested as jack-pot (“big prize”), 1944; from sense "slot machine" (1932), from obsolete poker sense (1881) "antes that begin when no player has a pair of jacks or better"; from jack (“playing card”) + pot.