A lot, lots, a festival instituted by the Jews (Esther 9:24-32) in ironical commemoration of Haman's consultation of the Pur (a Persian word), for the purpose of ascertaining the auspicious day for executing his cruel plot against their nation. It became a national institution by the common consent of the Jews, and is observed by them to the present day, on the 14th and 15th of the month Adar, a month before the Passover.

Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

(n.) A Jewish festival, called also the Feast of Lots, instituted to commemorate the deliverance of the Jews from the machinations of Haman.