Definition of chance

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chance    (chns) KEY 

NOUN:

1. 1. The unknown and unpredictable element in happenings that seems to have no assignable cause.
   2. A force assumed to cause events that cannot be foreseen or controlled; luck: Chance will determine the outcome.
2. The likelihood of something happening; possibility or probability. Often used in the plural: Chances are good that you will win. Is there any chance of rain?
3. An accidental or unpredictable event.
4. A favorable set of circumstances; an opportunity: a chance to escape.
5. A risk or hazard; a gamble: took a chance that the ice would hold me.
6. Games A raffle or lottery ticket.
7. Baseball An opportunity to make a putout or an assist that counts as an error if unsuccessful.

ADJECTIVE:

Caused by or ascribable to chance; unexpected, random, or casual: a chance encounter; a chance result.

VERB:
chanced, chanc·ing, chanc·es
VERB:
intr.

To come about by chance; occur: It chanced that the train was late that day.

VERB:
tr.

To take the risk or hazard of: not willing to chance it.

PHRASAL VERB:
chance on or upon

To find or meet accidentally; happen upon: While in Paris we chanced on two old friends.

IDIOMS:
by chance

1. Without plan; accidentally: They met by chance on a plane.
2. Possibly; perchance: Is he, by chance, her brother?

on the off chance

In the slight hope or possibility.

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ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English, unexpected event, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *cadentia, from Latin cadns, cadent- present participle of cadere, to fall, befall; see kad- in Indo-European roots

SYNONYMS:
chance, random, casual, haphazard, desultory

These adjectives apply to what is determined not by deliberation but by accident. Chance stresses lack of premeditation: a chance meeting with a friend. Random implies the absence of a specific pattern or objective: took a random guess. Casual often suggests an absence of due concern: a casual observation. Haphazard implies a carelessness or a willful leaving to chance: a haphazard plan of action. Desultory suggests a shifting about from one thing to another that reflects a lack of method: a desultory conversation. See also Synonyms at happen, opportunity.