chance
Americannoun
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chances
plural
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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
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luck or fortune.
a game of chance.
-
a possibility or probability of anything happening.
a fifty-percent chance of success.
- Synonyms:
- contingency
-
an opportune or favorable time; opportunity.
Now is your chance.
- Synonyms:
- opening
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Baseball. an opportunity to field the ball and make a putout or an assist.
-
a risk or hazard.
Take a chance.
-
a share or ticket in a lottery or prize drawing.
The charity is selling chances for a dollar each.
-
chances, probability.
The chances are that the train hasn't left yet.
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Midland and Southern U.S. a quantity or number (usually followed byof ).
a fine chance of tomatoes, harvested fresh from the garden today.
-
Archaic. an unfortunate event; mishap.
verb (used without object)
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chances,
present (3rd person singular)
-
chanced,
past participle, past
-
chancing
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
chances,
present (3rd person singular)
-
chanced,
past participle, past
-
chancing
present participle
adjective
verb phrase
idioms
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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.
-
on the chance, in the mild hope or against the possibility.
I'll wait on the chance that she'll come.
-
by chance, without plan or intent; accidentally.
I met her again by chance in a department store in Paris.
noun
-
-
the unknown and unpredictable element that causes an event to result in a certain way rather than another, spoken of as a real force
-
( as modifier )
a chance meeting
-
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fortune; luck; fate
-
an opportunity or occasion
-
a risk; gamble
you take a chance with his driving
-
the extent to which an event is likely to occur; probability
-
an unpredicted event, esp a fortunate one
that was quite a chance, finding him here
-
archaic an unlucky event; mishap
-
-
accidentally
he slipped by chance
-
perhaps
do you by chance have a room?
-
-
it is likely (that) …
-
acting on the possibility; in case
-
the opportunity for personal gain (esp in the phrase an eye to the main chance )
verb
-
(tr) to risk; hazard
I'll chance the worst happening
-
to happen by chance; be the case by chance
I chanced to catch sight of her as she passed
-
to come upon by accident
he chanced on the solution to his problem
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to attempt to do something although the chance of success may be slight
Synonym Usage
See happen.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
chancesimple
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chancessimple
-
have chancedperfect
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has chancedperfect
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am chancingprogressive
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are chancingprogressive
-
is chancingprogressive
-
have been chancingperfect progressive
-
has been chancingperfect progressive
Past
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chancedsimple
-
had chancedperfect
-
was chancingprogressive
-
were chancingprogressive
-
had been chancingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing chance
Statistics and Probability - Middle School
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Workshop 3, Part 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
And then, they tell you anyway with a proud look on their face, eliminating the chance to experience the satisfaction that comes with figuring something out on your own.
From Salon ● Aug. 26, 2026
I was given the chance to go behind the scenes and speak to some of those behind the success of Dept Q.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
The maneuver also gave the spacecraft a rare chance to observe Deimos from close range.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 26, 2026
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently said there’s a 95% chance the current El Niño weather event would be the strongest since 1950.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026
My chance to send an SOS text was gone.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
The building's future is secure until at least 2033, when the current lease runs out – but with 10 books in the series, the production team isn't taking any chances.
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
He declined to speculate on his chances in court.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
They had chances in Glasgow and they had chances in the opening minutes in Linz - and they were 4-0 down!
From BBC ● Aug. 26, 2026
Take 10 chances and expect most to fail; those who make it are people the market would never have found.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 25, 2026
“Russell Culver, you have ruined my chances as a public school teacher. You meant to and you did. It was your plan from the start.”
From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck
Ionic Mineral Technologies was mining the clay in Utah when it chanced upon what could be the critical mineral equivalent of a gold mine.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 11, 2025
Mr Sen, who runs a tour company, chanced upon a newspaper article about city enthusiasts lighting up some of the city's grand but often neglected heritage buildings.
From BBC ● Sep. 13, 2025
He started out as a fiction writer who, while living in Paris, chanced upon avant-garde jazz and took up the saxophone.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 16, 2025
The British director Titley said she chanced upon the reality show and reached out to Nasubi because she felt no one had ever told his side of the story.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 28, 2024
It was for the newspaper and—she, Cilia, having chanced in, had drawn it beautifully— now Johnny would have to cut a block of it for printing.
From "Johnny Tremain" by Esther Hoskins Forbes
He had heard stories of people chancing upon diamonds and hoped that he too would get lucky one day.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2024
Conditions Chelsea are appealing against in a state of affairs they they are either chancing their arms or don’t quite understand how sanctions work.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 10, 2022
But this being the year after a deep playoff run and the back half of the relievers’ injury-filled careers, the Nationals aren’t chancing it.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 23, 2020
Like Friday nights at Blockbuster back in the day, the pleasure of Shudder is in chancing upon under-the-radar stuff.
From New York Times ● Aug. 15, 2019
“We will,” Lily replies, chancing a smile at me.
From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish
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.
