by 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.
No one has ever seen one of these fish alive; they have turned up only by chance in a passing net or dredge.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 30, 2026
About six years into trying to navigate that process with no success, by chance, I mentioned my case to the clinical professor in charge of the Veterans Legal Services Clinic at Yale Law School.
From Slate ● Oct. 19, 2026
All were discovered only by chance centuries later, often during construction work, and one as recently as 1998.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026
Gray himself was initially not breathing but an ambulance crew, who were passing the crash scene by chance, opened his airway, saving his life.
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026
“Inigo, go check and see if there’s anything by chance in my carriage outside.”
From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
