Luck of the draw is an idiom that came into use in the mid-twentieth century. We will examine the meaning of the idiom luck of the draw, where it came from, and some examples of its use in sentences.
Luck of the draw describes something that is out of your control. The luck of the draw describes a situation with an outcome based on chance; the subject has no choice in the matter. For instance, the family one is born into is the luck of the draw. The expression luck of the draw came into use in the 1940s and comes from card games. In many card games, playing cards are drawn from a randomly shuffled pile throughout the game. These playing cards may or may not change the outcome of the game.
Examples
And every pessimistic one can’t believe the bad luck of the draw to see their beloved team dealt such a brutal schedule. (The New York Post)
The “luck of the draw” in which three judges are assigned to an appeal would have a significant bearing on the players’ chances. (Sports Illustrated)
The horse and the buggy of 1906 have been replaced by cars and planes; morphine for medical aesthetics and the surgical knife have been replaced by the laser; caveat emptor has been replaced by consumer law; child labour has been replaced, period; a whole network of social services and systems is in place to replace the luck of the draw that used to characterize employment relationships; the phonograph has been replaced by Spotify; the hegemony of the majority has been replaced by the assertive diversity of minorities; and adoring wives have been replaced by exhausted ones. (The Globe and Mail)
Carson said when it comes to the coronavirus, even the most stringent measures may not be enough to dodge “the luck of the draw.” (The Minneapolis Star Tribune)