chance

American  

[chans, chahns] / tʃæns, tʃɑns /

noun

1. the absence of any cause of events that can be predicted, understood, or controlled: often personified or treated as a positive agency.

   Chance governs all.

   Antonyms:

   necessity

2. luck or fortune.

   a game of chance.

   Synonyms:

   fortuity, accident

3. a possibility or probability of anything happening.

   a fifty-percent chance of success.

   Synonyms:

   contingency

4. an opportune or favorable time; opportunity.

   Now is your chance.

   Synonyms:

   opening

5. Baseball. an opportunity to field the ball and make a putout or an assist.

6. a risk or hazard.

   Take a chance.

7. a share or ticket in a lottery or prize drawing.

   The charity is selling chances for a dollar each.

8. chances, probability.

   The chances are that the train hasn't left yet.

9. Midland and Southern U.S. a quantity or number (usually followed byof ).

   a fine chance of tomatoes, harvested fresh from the garden today.

10. Archaic. an unfortunate event; mishap.

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verb (used without object)

chanced, chancing

1. to happen or occur by chance.

   It chanced that our arrivals coincided.

   Synonyms:

   befall

verb (used with object)

chanced, chancing

1. to take the chances or risks of; risk (often followed by impersonalit ).

   I'll have to chance it, whatever the outcome.

adjective

1. not planned or expected; accidental.

   a chance occurrence.

   Synonyms:

   fortuitous, casual

verb phrase

1. chance on / upon to come upon by chance; meet unexpectedly.

   She chanced on a rare kind of mushroom during her walk through the woods.

idioms

1. on the off chance, in the very slight hope or against the very slight possibility.

   I’m free Friday, on the off chance that you end up with a spare ticket to the concert.

2. on the chance, in the mild hope or against the possibility.

   I'll wait on the chance that she'll come.

3. by chance, without plan or intent; accidentally.

   I met her again by chance in a department store in Paris.

chance British  

/ tʃɑːns /

noun

1. 1. the unknown and unpredictable element that causes an event to result in a certain way rather than another, spoken of as a real force

   2. ( as modifier )

      a chance meeting

2. fortune; luck; fate

3. an opportunity or occasion

4. a risk; gamble

   you take a chance with his driving

5. the extent to which an event is likely to occur; probability

6. an unpredicted event, esp a fortunate one

   that was quite a chance, finding him here

7. archaic an unlucky event; mishap

8. 1. accidentally

      he slipped by chance

   2. perhaps

      do you by chance have a room?

9. it is likely (that) …

10. acting on the possibility; in case

11. the opportunity for personal gain (esp in the phrase an eye to the main chance )

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verb

1. (tr) to risk; hazard

   I'll chance the worst happening

2. to happen by chance; be the case by chance

   I chanced to catch sight of her as she passed

3. to come upon by accident

   he chanced on the solution to his problem

4. to attempt to do something although the chance of success may be slight

chance More Idioms  

More idioms and phrases containing chance

• Chinaman's chance
• by chance
• eye to the main chance
• fat chance
• fighting chance
• jump at (the chance)
• not have an earthly chance
• on the (off) chance
• snowball's chance in hell
• sporting chance
• stand a chance
• take a chance
• take one's chances

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Related Words

See happen.

Other Word Forms

• chanceful
  adjective
• chanceless
  adjective
• unchanced
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of chance

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English chaunce, chance, chea(u)nce, from Old French chance, cheance from unattested Vulgar Latin cadentia “a befalling, happening”; see cadenza

Explanation

A chance is a possibility — but it's not a sure thing. There could be a chance of rain today or a chance you'll be the lead in the school play. Chance is sometimes about opportunity, as in getting a chance to try out for the baseball team. Sometimes it's just luck, as in taking a chance on a new car through a raffle at school. You could meet someone by chance, and you could say, "I chanced upon him at a coffee shop." Sometimes the word implies danger, as in "He took a chance when he signed up for skydiving." In any case, a chance is never a sure thing.

Example Sentences

The Sparks later selected Chance Gray from Ohio State with the No. 24 pick.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2026

In his 1953 speech “The Chance for Peace,” a Republican president warned about the human cost of militarism.

From Salon • Apr. 7, 2026

Countertenor Alexander Chance was careful and effective as the herald Lichas who supplies some narrative glue—he recounts the horror of Hercules burning to death in the poisoned robe.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 18, 2026

Chance handed post-Maduro power to Rodriguez, a former economics minister with a reputation as a pragmatist, says Angela Pachon, special adviser to University of Pennsylvania’s Kleinman Center for Energy Policy.

From Barron's • Mar. 12, 2026

Mr. Chance may have felt in her debt.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell

Related Words

• break
• likelihood
• odds
• opportunity
• outlook
• prospect
• shot
• time