chance
Americannoun
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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.
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a possibility or probability of anything happening.
a fifty-percent chance of success.
- Synonyms:
- contingency
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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.
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a risk or hazard.
Take a chance.
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a share or ticket in a lottery or prize drawing.
The charity is selling chances for a dollar each.
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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.
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Archaic. an unfortunate event; mishap.
verb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
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.
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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
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a risk; gamble
you take a chance with his driving
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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
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archaic an unlucky event; mishap
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-
accidentally
he slipped by chance
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perhaps
do you by chance have a room?
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it is likely (that) …
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acting on the possibility; in case
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the opportunity for personal gain (esp in the phrase an eye to the main chance )
verb
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(tr) to risk; hazard
I'll chance the worst happening
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to happen by chance; be the case by chance
I chanced to catch sight of her as she passed
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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
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”; cadenza
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.
When this happens, there is always a chance of injury, with a lot of reserves trying to prove themselves, and every player fighting for the ball.
From Los Angeles Times
"Keep fighting, keep working hard, keep putting myself out there, and try my best if I'll have another chance in the final."
From BBC
But now, the chances of her capping her return with one final golden run through the Olympics is slimmer than ever.
There would be no escape, however, when Sabalenka forced three more break points with Rybakina serving to stay in the set, the top seed seizing her chance to force a decider.
From BBC
The tension ratcheted up and the top seed quickly forged three set points at 5-4 on the Kazakh's serve, ruthlessly levelling the match at the first chance to force a deciding set.
From Barron's
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.
