Adjacent Words

Chance definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CHANCE, n.
1. An event that happens, falls out or takes place, without being contrived, intended, expected or foreseen; the effect of an unknown cause, or the unusual or unexpected effect of a known cause; accident; casualty; fortuitous event; as, time and chance happen to all.
By chance a priest came down that way. Luke 10.
2. Fortune; what fortune may bing; as, they must take their chance.
3. An event, good or evil; success or misfortune; luck.
4. Possibility of an occurrence; opportunity.
You ladyship may have a chance to escape this address.
CHANCE, v.i. To happen; to fall out; to come or arrive without design, or expectation.
If a birds nest chance to be before thee. Deutoronomy 22.
Ah Casca, tell us what hath chanced to day.
CHANCE, a. Happening by chance; casual; as a chance comer.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: occurring or appearing or singled out by chance; "seek help from casual passers-by"; "a casual meeting"; "a chance occurrence" [syn: casual, chance] n
1: a possibility due to a favorable combination of circumstances; "the holiday gave us the opportunity to visit Washington"; "now is your chance" [syn: opportunity, chance]
2: an unknown and unpredictable phenomenon that causes an event to result one way rather than another; "bad luck caused his downfall"; "we ran into each other by pure chance" [syn: luck, fortune, chance, hazard]
3: a risk involving danger; "you take a chance when you let her drive"
4: a measure of how likely it is that some event will occur; a number expressing the ratio of favorable cases to the whole number of cases possible; "the probability that an unbiased coin will fall with the head up is 0.5" [syn: probability, chance]
5: the possibility of future success; "his prospects as a writer are excellent" [syn: prospect, chance] v
1: be the case by chance; "I chanced to meet my old friend in the street"
2: take a risk in the hope of a favorable outcome; "When you buy these stocks you are gambling" [syn: gamble, chance, risk, hazard, take chances, adventure, run a risk, take a chance]
3: come upon, as if by accident; meet with; "We find this idea in Plato"; "I happened upon the most wonderful bakery not very far from here"; "She chanced upon an interesting book in the bookstore the other day" [syn: find, happen, chance, bump, encounter]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Vulgar Latin *cadentia fall, from Latin cadent-, cadens, present participle of cadere to fall; perhaps akin to Sanskrit ?ad- to fall off Date: 14th century 1. a. something that happens unpredictably without discernible human intention or observable cause b. the assumed impersonal purposeless determiner of unaccountable happenings ; luck <an outcome decided by chance> c. the fortuitous or incalculable element in existence ; contingency 2. a situation favoring some purpose ; opportunity <needed a chance to relax> 3. a fielding opportunity in baseball 4. a. the possibility of a particular outcome in an uncertain situation; also the degree of likelihood of such an outcome <a small chance of success> b. plural the more likely indications <chances are he's already gone> 5. a. risk <not taking any chances> b. a raffle ticket • chance adjective II. verb (chanced; chancing) Date: 14th century intransitive verb 1. a. to take place, come about, or turn out by chance ; happen <it chanced to rain that day> b. to have the good or bad luck <we chanced to meet> 2. to come or light by chance <they chanced upon a remote inn> transitive verb 1. to leave the outcome of to chance 2. to accept the hazard of ; risk <knew the trip was dangerous but decided to chance it>

NOAA Weather Glossary

A 30, 40 or 50 percent chance of occurrence of measurableprecipitation.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n., adj., & v. --n. 1 a a possibility (just a chance we will catch the train). b (often in pl.) probability (the chances are against it). 2 a risk (have to take a chance). 3 a an undesigned occurrence (just a chance that they met). b the absence of design or discoverable cause (here merely because of chance). 4 an opportunity (didn't have a chance to speak to him). 5 the way things happen; fortune; luck (we'll just leave it to chance). 6 (often Chance) the course of events regarded as a power; fate (blind Chance rules the universe). 7 Cricket an opportunity for dismissing a batsman. --adj. fortuitous, accidental (a chance meeting). --v. 1 tr. colloq. risk (we'll chance it and go). 2 intr. (often foll. by that + clause, or to + infin.) happen without intention (it chanced that I found it; I chanced to find it). Phrases and idioms: by any chance as it happens; perhaps. by chance without design; unintentionally. chance one's arm make an attempt though unlikely to succeed. chance on (or upon) happen to find, meet, etc. game of chance a game decided by luck, not skill. the off chance the slight possibility. on the chance (often foll. by of, or that + clause) in view of the possibility. stand a chance have a prospect of success etc. take a chance (or chances) behave riskily; risk failure. take a (or one's) chance on (or with) consent to take the consequences of; trust to luck. Etymology: ME f. AF ch(e)aunce, OF ch{euml}ance ch{euml}oir fall ult. f. L cadere

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Chance Chance, v. t. 1. To take the chances of; to venture upon; -- usually with it as object. Come what will, I will chance it. --W. D. Howells. 2. To befall; to happen to. [Obs.] --W. Lambarde.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Chance Chance, adv. By chance; perchance. --Gray.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Chance Chance, a. Happening by chance; casual.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Chance Chance (ch[.a]ns), n. [F. chance, OF. cheance, fr. LL. cadentia a allusion to the falling of the dice), fr. L. cadere to fall; akin to Skr. [,c]ad to fall, L. cedere to yield, E. cede. Cf. Cadence.] 1. A supposed material or psychical agent or mode of activity other than a force, law, or purpose; fortune; fate; -- in this sense often personified. It is strictly and philosophically true in nature and reason that there is no such thing as chance or accident; it being evident that these words do not signify anything really existing, anything that is truly an agent or the cause of any event; but they signify merely men's ignorance of the real and immediate cause. --Samuel Clark. Any society into which chance might throw him. --Macaulay. That power Which erring men call Chance. --Milton. 2. The operation or activity of such agent. By chance a priest came down that way. --Luke x. 31. 3. The supposed effect of such an agent; something that befalls, as the result of unknown or unconsidered forces; the issue of uncertain conditions; an event not calculated upon; an unexpected occurrence; a happening; accident; fortuity; casualty. It was a chance that happened to us. --1 Sam. vi. 9. The Knave of Diamonds tries his wily arts, And wins (O shameful chance!) the Queen of Hearts. --Pope. I spake of most disastrous chance. --Shak. 4. A possibility; a likelihood; an opportunity; -- with reference to a doubtful result; as, a chance to escape; a chance for life; the chances are all against him. So weary with disasters, tugged with fortune. That I would get my life on any chance, To mend it, or be rid on 't --Shak. 5. (Math.) Probability. Note: The mathematical expression, of a chance is the ratio of frequency with which an event happens in the long run. If an event may happen in a ways and may fail in b ways, and each of these a + b ways is equally likely, the chance, or probability, that the event will happen is measured by the fraction a/a + b, and the chance, or probability, that it will fail is measured by b/a + b. Chance comer, one who comes unexpectedly. The last chance, the sole remaining ground of hope. The main chance, the chief opportunity; that upon which reliance is had, esp. self-interest. Theory of chances, Doctrine of chances (Math.), that branch of mathematics which treats of the probability of the occurrence of particular events, as the fall of dice in given positions. To mind one's chances, to take advantage of every circumstance; to seize every opportunity.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Chance Chance, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Chanced; p. pr. & vb. n. Chancing.] To happen, come, or arrive, without design or expectation. ``Things that chance daily.'' --Robynson (More's Utopia). If a bird's nest chance to be before thee. --Deut. xxii. 6. I chanced on this letter. --Shak. Note: Often used impersonally; as, how chances it? How chance, thou art returned so soon? --Shak.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(chances, chancing, chanced) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. If there is a chance of something happening, it is possible that it will happen. Do you think they have a chance of beating Australia?... This partnership has a good chance of success... The specialist who carried out the brain scan thought Tim's chances of survival were still slim... There was really very little chance that Ben would ever have led a normal life. N-VAR: oft N of -ing/n, N that 2. If you have a chance to do something, you have the opportunity to do it. The electoral council announced that all eligible people would get a chance to vote... I felt I had to give him a chance. N-COUNT: usu N to-inf, N for n to-inf 3. A chance meeting or event is one that is not planned or expected. ...a chance meeting. ADJ: ADJ n • Chance is also a noun. ...a victim of chance and circumstance. 4. If you chance to do something or chance on something, you do it or find it although you had not planned or tried to. (FORMAL) It was just then that I chanced to look round. ...Christopher Columbus, who chanced upon the Dominican Republic nearly 500 years ago. VERB: V to-inf, V upon/on/across n 5. If you chance something, you do it even though there is a risk that you may not succeed or that something bad may happen. Andy knew the risks. I cannot believe he would have chanced it... He decided no assassin would chance a shot from amongst that crowd. = risk VERB: V it, V n 6. see also off-chance 7. Something that happens by chance was not planned by anyone. He had met Mr Maude by chance. PHRASE: PHR after v, PHR with cl 8. You can use by any chance when you are asking questions in order to find out whether something that you think might be true is actually true. Are they by any chance related? = perhaps PHRASE: PHR with cl (not first in cl) 9. If you say that someone stands a chance of achieving something, you mean that they are likely to achieve it. If you say that someone doesn't stand a chance of achieving something, you mean that they cannot possibly achieve it. Being very good at science subjects, I stood a good chance of gaining high grades... Neither is seen as standing any chance of snatching the leadership from him. PHRASE: V inflects, usu PHR of -ing 10. When you take a chance, you try to do something although there is a large risk of danger or failure. You take a chance on the weather if you holiday in the UK... From then on, they were taking no chances... PHRASE: V and N inflect

Easton's Bible Dictionary

(Luke 10:31). "It was not by chance that the priest came down by that road at that time, but by a specific arrangement and in exact fulfilment of a plan; not the plan of the priest, nor the plan of the wounded traveller, but the plan of God. By coincidence (Gr. sungkuria) the priest came down, that is, by the conjunction of two things, in fact, which were previously constituted a pair in the providence of God. In the result they fell together according to the omniscient Designer's plan. This is the true theory of the divine government." Compare the meeting of Philip with the Ethiopian (Acts 8:26, 27). There is no "chance" in God's empire. "Chance" is only another word for our want of knowledge as to the way in which one event falls in with another (1 Sam. 6:9; Eccl. 9:11).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

chans: The idea of chance in the sense of something wholly fortuitous was utterly foreign to the Hebrew creed. Throughout the whole course of Israel's history, to the Hebrew mind, law, not chance, ruled the universe, and that law was not something blindly mechanical, but the expression of the personal Yahweh. Israel's belief upon this subject may be summed up in the couplet, "The lot is cast into the lap; But the whole disposing thereof is of Yahweh" (Pr 16:33). A number of Hebrew and Greek expressions have been translated "chance," or something nearly equivalent, but it is noteworthy that of the classical words for chance, suntuchia, and tuche, the former never occurs in the Bible and the latter only twice in the Septuagint.

The closest approach to the idea of chance is found in the statement of the Philistines that if their device for ascertaining the cause of their calamities turned out a certain way they would call them a chance, that is, bad luck (miqreh, 1Sa 6:9). But note that it was a heathen people who said this. We have the same Hebrew noun and the verb, from which the noun is taken, a number of times, but variously rendered into English: Uncleanness that "chanceth him by night" (De 23:10). "Her hap was to ligh t on the portion of the field" (Ru 2:3). "Something hath befallen him" (1Sa 20:26). "One event happeneth to them all" (Ec 2:14,15); "that which befalleth the sons of men" ("sons of men are a chance," the English Revised Version, margin) (Ec 3:19). "There is one event to the righteous and to the wicked" (Ec 9:2,3). Here the idea certainly is not something independent of the will of God, but something unexpected by man.

There is also qara', "If a bird's nest chance to be before thee in the way" (De 22:6). Both the above Hebrew words are combined in the statement "As I happened by chance upon Mount Gilboa" (2Sa 1:6). "And Absalom chanced to meet the servants of David" ("met the servants," 2Sa 18:9, the King James Version). "And there happened to be there a base fellow" (2Sa 20:1).

We have also pegha`, "Time and chance happeneth to them all," meaning simply occurrence (Ec 9:11). "Neither adversary, nor evil occurrence" (1Ki 5:4).

In the New Testament we have sugkuria, "coincidence," a meeting apparently accidental, a coincidence. "By chance a certain priest was going down that way" (Lu 10:31). Also ei tuchoi. "It may chance of wheat, or of some other kind," i.e. we cannot tell which (1Co 15:37). "It may be" (1Co 14:10).

If we look at the Septuagint we find tuche used twice. "And Leah said, (En tuche) With fortune" ("a troop cometh," the King James Version; "fortunate," the Revised Version (British and American); "with fortune," the Revised Version, margin, Ge 30:11). Note, it was no Israelite, but who said this. "That prepare a table for Fortune, and that fill up mingled wine unto Destiny" ("fate," Isa 65:11). In this passage tuche stands or the Hebrew meni, the god of destiny, and Fortune is for Gad, the old Semitic name for the god of fortune found in inscriptions, private names, etc. Note here, however, also, that the prophet was rebuking idolatrous ones for apostasy to heathen divinities.

We have also in the Apocrypha, "these things which have chanced," the Revised Version (British and American) "to be opened unto thee" (2 Esdras 10:49).

See also GAD; MENI.

George Henry Trever

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Accident, hap, fortuity, fortune, luck. 2. Possibility, contingency. 3. Opportunity, occasion, opening. 4. Uncertainty, contingency, fortuity. 5. Fortuitous event, piece of luck, stroke of good luck. 6. Risk, hazard, peril, jeopardy. II. v. n. Happen, occur, befall, betide, take place, fall out, turn up, come to pass.

Moby Thesaurus

a leg up, accidental, accidentally, advantage, adventitious, adventure, aleatoric, aleatory, amorphous, appear, approach, aptitude, aptness, arise, assay, attempt, bare possibility, bechance, befall, bet, betide, blind bargain, blobby, blurred, blurry, borderline case, bout, brave, break, broad, bump, by chance, calculated risk, capriciousness, careless, casual, causeless, certainty, chance it, chances, chanciness, chancy, changeableness, chaotic, clear stage, come, come about, come along, come forth, come into being, come into existence, come on, come to pass, conceivability, conceivableness, conceivably, confused, contingency, contingent, court destruction, crop up, dare, defy danger, destinal, dicey, disordered, double contingency, draw on, endanger, engage, erraticism, erraticness, essay, even chance, eventuality, expectation, face up to, fair expectation, fair field, fair game, fall out, fatal, fate, fatidic, favorable prospect, fickleness, flier, fluke, fluky, foggy, forget the odds, fortuitous, fortuity, fortune, fuzzy, gamble, gamble on, general, go, good chance, good possibility, guess, hap, happen, happen along, happen by chance, hazard, hazy, heedless, hesitancy, hesitation, hit, hit-or-miss, hope, iffy, ill-defined, imperil, imprecise, inaccurate, inadvertent, inadvertently, incalculability, incertitude, inchoate, incidental, incoherent, indecision, indecisive, indecisiveness, indefinable, indefinite, indemonstrability, indeterminable, indeterminacy, indeterminate, indetermination, indeterminism, indistinct, inexact, inning, innings, irresolution, jeopardize, lax, liability, liableness, liberty, lift a finger, light, likelihood, likeliness, look-in, loose, lot, luck, make an attempt, make an effort, materialize, maybe, meet, nonspecific, obligation, obscure, occasion, occur, odd, odds, off chance, offer, open question, opening, opportunism, opportunity, orderless, outlook, outside chance, outside hope, perhaps, piece of guesswork, place, play, play with fire, plunge, pop up, possibility, possibleness, possibly, potential, potentiality, predictability, present itself, presumption, presumptive evidence, probabilism, probability, proneness, prospect, question, random, randomness, reasonable ground, reasonable hope, relief, rely on fortune, remote possibility, risk, risky, room, round, run a chance, run the chance, run the risk, say, scope, set at hazard, shadowed forth, shadowy, shapeless, shot, show, show up, sight-unseen transaction, small hope, speculation, spell, spring up, squeak, stake, stepping-stone, stochastic, stumble, suspense, suspensefulness, sweeping, take a chance, take a flier, take chances, take place, tempt Providence, tempt fortune, tendency, the attainable, the feasible, the possible, thinkability, thinkableness, time, time at bat, toss-up, touch and go, transpire, trust to chance, try, try the chance, tumble, turn, turn up, unaccountability, uncaused, uncertainness, uncertainty, uncertainty principle, unclear, undecided issue, undecidedness, undefined, undertake, undestined, undetermined, undeterminedness, unexpected, unforeseeable, unforeseeableness, unforeseen, unintentional, unintentionally, unlooked-for, unplain, unplanned, unpredictability, unpredictable, unpremeditated, unprovability, unspecified, unsureness, unverifiability, vacillation, vague, veiled, venture, venture on, venture upon, verisimilitude, virtuality, wager, weakness, well-grounded hope, whack, what is possible, what may be, what might be, whimsicality