chance

chance  (chns)

n.

1.

a. The unknown and unpredictable element in happenings that seems to have no assignable cause.

b. 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.

adj.

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

v. chanced, chanc·ing, chanc·es

v.intr.

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

v.tr.

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

Phrasal Verb:

chance on/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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[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.

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chance

Noun

1. the extent to which something is likely to happen; probability

2. an opportunity or occasion to do something: a chance to escape rural poverty

3. a risk or gamble: the government is not in the mood to take any more chances

4. the unknown and unpredictable element that causes something to happen in one way rather than another: in Buddhism there is no such thing as chance or coincidence

5. by chance without planning: by chance she met an old school friend

6. on the off chance acting on the slight possibility: he had called on the agents on the off chance that he might learn something of value

Verb

[chancing, chanced]

1. to risk or hazard: a few picnickers chanced the perilous footpath

2. to do something without planning to: I chanced to look down

3. chance on or upon to discover by accident: I chanced upon a copy of this book [Latin cadere to occur]

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Chance

See also gambling.

casualism

the doctrine that events are ruled by chance.

casualty

a chance happening. See also injury.

consilience

a chance happening or coincidence. See also agreement.

fortuitism

the doctrine that chance is involved in natural events rather than absolute determinism. See also evolution. — fortuist, n.

fortuity

a chance event, discovery, or occurrence. — fortuitousness, n. — fortuitous, adj.

lubricity

the condition of being uncertain or unstable. — lubricious, adj.

serendipity

a talent for making fortunate discoveries while searching for other things. — serendipitous, adj.

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	chance - a possibility due to a favorable combination of circumstances; "the holiday gave us the opportunity to visit Washington"; "now is your chance" opportunity possibleness, possibility - capability of existing or happening or being true; "there is a possibility that his sense of smell has been impaired" brass ring - a rich opportunity or a prize; "he missed the brass ring at the Miami convention" day - a period of opportunity; "he deserves his day in court"; "every dog has his day" clean slate, fresh start, tabula rasa - an opportunity to start over without prejudice hearing, audience - an opportunity to state your case and be heard; "they condemned him without a hearing"; "he saw that he had lost his audience" hunting ground - a place where opportunities abound occasion - an opportunity to do something; "there was never an occasion for her to demonstrate her skill" opening - opportunity especially for employment or promotion; "there is an opening in the sales department" room - opportunity for; "room for improvement" say - the chance to speak; "let him have his say" shot, crack - a chance to do something; "he wanted a shot at the champion" street - a situation offering opportunities; "he worked both sides of the street"; "cooperation is a two-way street" throw - a single chance or instance; "he couldn't afford $50 a throw"
	2.	chance - 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" fortune, hazard, luck phenomenon - any state or process known through the senses rather than by intuition or reasoning mischance, mishap, bad luck - an unpredictable outcome that is unfortunate; "if I didn't have bad luck I wouldn't have any luck at all" even chance, toss-up, tossup - an unpredictable phenomenon; "it's a toss-up whether he will win or lose"
	3.	chance - a risk involving danger; "you take a chance when you let her drive" danger, risk, peril - a venture undertaken without regard to possible loss or injury; "he saw the rewards but not the risks of crime"; "there was a danger he would do the wrong thing"
	4.	chance - 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" probability quantity, measure, amount - how much there is or how many there are of something that you can quantify conditional probability, contingent probability - the probability that an event will occur given that one or more other events have occurred cross section - (physics) the probability that a particular interaction (as capture or ionization) will take place between particles; measured in barns exceedance - (geology) the probability that an earthquake will generate a level of ground motion that exceeds a specified reference level during a given exposure time; "the concept of exceedance can be applied to any type of environmental risk modeling" fair chance, sporting chance - a reasonable probability of success fat chance, slim chance - little or no chance of success joint probability - the probability of two events occurring together risk of exposure, risk - the probability of being exposed to an infectious agent risk of infection, risk - the probability of becoming infected given that exposure to an infectious agent has occurred
	5.	chance - the possibility of future success; "his prospects as a writer are excellent" prospect potential, potentiality, potency - the inherent capacity for coming into being
Verb	1.	chance - be the case by chance; "I chanced to meet my old friend in the street" hap, happen, occur, come about, take place, go on, pass off, fall out, pass - come to pass; "What is happening?"; "The meeting took place off without an incidence"; "Nothing occurred that seemed important" happen - chance to be or do something, without intention or causation; "I happen to have just what you need!"
	2.	chance - take a risk in the hope of a favorable outcome; "When you buy these stocks you are gambling" adventure, gamble, run a risk, take a chance, take chances, risk, hazard attempt, essay, try, assay, seek - make an effort or attempt; "He tried to shake off his fears"; "The infant had essayed a few wobbly steps"; "The police attempted to stop the thief"; "He sought to improve himself"; "She always seeks to do good in the world" go for broke - risk everything in one big effort; "the cyclist went for broke at the end of the race" luck it, luck through - act by relying on one's luck
	3.	chance - 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" find, bump, encounter, happen
Adj.	1.	chance - occurring or appearing or singled out by chance; "seek help from casual passers-by"; "a casual meeting"; "a chance occurrence" casual unplanned - without apparent forethought or prompting or planning; "an unplanned economy"; "accepts an unplanned order"; "an unplanned pregnancy"; "unplanned remarks"

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chance

noun 1. probability, odds, possibility, prospect, liability, likelihood << OPPOSITE certainty

noun 2. opportunity, opening, occasion, time, scope, window

noun 3. accident, fortune, luck, fate, destiny, coincidence, misfortune, providence << OPPOSITE design

noun 4. risk, speculation, gamble, hazard

adjective 5. accidental, random, casual, incidental, unforeseen, unintentional, fortuitous, inadvertent, serendipitous, unforeseeable, unlooked-for << OPPOSITE planned

verb 6. happen,

verb 7. risk, try, stake, venture, gamble, hazard, wager >> adjective fortuitous

Translations

chance [tʃɑːns] n (= coincidence) → casualidad f (= luck); suerte f (= fate); azar m (= opportunity); ocasión f; oportunidad f; chance m or f (LAM) (= likelihood); posibilidad f (= risk); riesgo

vt → arriesgar, probar

adj → fortuito, casual;

to chance it → arriesgarse, intentarlo;

to take a chance → arriesgarse;

by chance → por casualidad;

it's the chance of a lifetime → es la oportunidad de su vida;

the chances are that ... → lo más probable es que ...;

to chance to do sth (= happen) → hacer algo por casualidad

chance (up)on vt fus → tropezar(se) con

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chance [tʃɑːns] n (= luck) → hasard m (= opportunity); occasion f, possibilité f (= hope, likelihood); chance f (= risk); risque m

vt (= risk) → risquer (= happen);

to chance to do → faire par hasard adj → fortuit(e) → de hasard;

there is little chance of his coming → il est peu probable or il y a peu de chances qu'il vienne;

to take a chance → prendre un risque;

it's the chance of a lifetime → c'est une occasion unique;

by chance → par hasard;

to chance doing sth → se risquer à faire qch;

to chance it → risquer le coup, essayer

chance on, chance upon vt fus [+ person] → tomber sur, rencontrer par hasard [+ thing]; trouver par hasard

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chance [tʃɑːns] n (hope) → Aussicht f;

(likelihood, possibility) → Möglichkeit f;

(opportunity) → Gelegenheit f;

(risk) → Risiko nt

vt → riskieren

adj → zufällig;

the chances are that ... → aller Wahrscheinlichkeit nach ..., wahrscheinlich ...;

there is little chance of his coming → es ist unwahrscheinlich, dass er kommt;

to take a chance → es darauf ankommen lassen;

by chance → durch Zufall, zufällig;

it's the chance of a lifetime → es ist eine einmalige Chance;

to chance to do sth → zufällig etw tun;

to chance it → es riskieren

chance (up)on chance vt fus (person) → zufällig begegnen +dat, zufällig treffen;

(thing) → zufällig stoßen auf +acc

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chance [tʃɑːns] n → caso (= opportunity); occasione f (= likelihood); possibilità f inv

vt to chance it → rischiare, provarci adj → fortuito/a;

there is little chance of his coming → è molto improbabile che venga;

to take a chance → rischiare;

by chance → per caso;

it's the chance of a lifetime → è un'occasione unica;

the chances are that ... → probabilmente ..., è probabile che ... + sub;

to chance to do sth (formal) (= happen); fare per caso qc

chance (up)on vt fus [+ person] → incontrare per caso, imbattersi in [+ thing]; trovare per caso