sortear

to draw lots for

to avoid

sortear(sohr-teh-ahr)

transitive verb

1. (to determine by luck)

a. to draw lots for

El profesor sorteó las golosinas entre sus alumnos.

The teacher drew lots for the candy among her students.

2. (to elude)

a. to avoid

El coche sorteó el árbol caído y siguió adelante.

The car avoided the fallen tree and moved forward.

b. to dodge

Ana consiguió sortear el atasco atravesando por un atajo.

Ana was able to dodge the traffic jam by taking a shortcut.

c. to negotiate

Los excursionistas sortearon la grieta y continuaron por el camino.

The hikers negotiated the crevice and continued along the path.

d. to get around

Si tienes un problema debes enfrentarte a él y no intentar sortearlo.

If you have a problem you should face it instead of trying to get around it.

3. (to offer something as a prize in a raffle)

a. to raffle

Van a sortear un viaje a las Bahamas en la fiesta navideña de la empresa.

They're going to raffle a trip to the Bahamas at our company's Christmas party.

4. (to avoid a question)

a. to handle skillfully

El actor sorteó las cuestiones comprometidas de la entrevista.

The actor handled the compromising questions in the interview skillfully.

b. to deal with skillfully

Miguel intentó sortear mi pregunta pero al final tuvo que responder.

Miguel tried to deal with my question skillfully but in the end he had to answer it.

sortearse

pronominal verb

5. (to determine by luck)

a. to draw lots

El grupo de amigos se sorteó el póster para decidir quién se lo quedaría y ganó Julián.

The group of friends drew lots to decide who would keep the poster and Julian won.