A small ball or marble, or in Spanish-speaking cultures, a gambling game involving the drawing of numbered balls.
From Spanish 'bolita', diminutive of 'bola' (ball), with the diminutive suffix '-ita'; Spanish diminutives are incredibly productive in creating small versions of things.
'Bolita' is an illegal lottery game that thrived in Latin American communities and Harlem during the 20th century—it was a form of gambling and community finance that banks wouldn't provide!
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