on the off chance
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A few years ago, on the off chance it might actually come to be, Deutch began studying the films of the French New Wave and learning to speak French.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 20, 2025
Williams had insisted I not bring my phone, on the off chance my movements were being tracked.
From Salon • Jan. 7, 2025
"We decided to take a very careful look at the shipworm's gut again," says Goodell, "on the off chance that the last hundred years' worth of researchers missed something."
From Science Daily • Jun. 5, 2024
Of fame onstage, Gadsby says: “Don’t expect it, that’s gross. But just on the off chance you find yourself famous, you’d better be prepared. Because I wasn’t and I made a dog’s breakfast of it.”
From Seattle Times • May 8, 2023
We reached out to them on the off chance that they'd be willing to speak with us, and we were astounded when they eagerly agreed to talk.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
