chance
Americannoun
-
chances
plural
-
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
-
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
-
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.
-
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)
-
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
-
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
-
-
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
-
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
-
chancessimple
-
have chancedperfect
-
has chancedperfect
-
am chancingprogressive
-
are chancingprogressive
-
is chancingprogressive
-
have been chancingperfect progressive
-
has been chancingperfect progressive
Past
-
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
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Workshop 3, Part 1
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
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:
Manchester City face "substantial hurdles" if they are to have any chance of winning their appeal after being found guilty of breaking the Premier League's financial rules, a leading lawyer has told BBC Sport.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026
After winning the starting job during preseason camp, he finally had the chance to see the field at the college level.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
That gives it a chance of downing the jet-powered Geran-4 drone, an advanced version of the Iranian Shahed, which can reach speeds of 310 mph but slows when maneuvering.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
While Wall Street is divided on when Musk will actually push to combine the crown jewels of his empire, Nelson thinks there’s a 90% chance it happens by the end of next year.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
But the way she just kept looking at me, I began to think that maybe she was talking because she didn’t get a chance to talk much.
From "Firegirl" by Tony Abbott
Arduous tests loom during the second half of the season, however, making the chances of getting the nod from the CFP selection committee a coin flip at best.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
“I’m putting her in the game because chances are, she’s going to make a play that helps us win.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026
But as an epidemiologist, I do have a question: What are the chances?
From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026
This could reduce unnecessary follow-up observations while increasing the chances of detecting rare jet-launching episodes at crucial moments.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026
“You’d rather cut yourself off at the knees against Nansi? To take your chances with a weak human who can’t do as much as you two can?”
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
The odds on Tuesday for one rate hike in September were at 60%, while a second hike at the Fed’s December meeting was chanced at 36.7%, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026
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
Motie, having earlier hit Rashid's hat-trick ball for six, chanced his arm with a counter-attack and ended up adding 91 in 68 balls with Alzarri Joseph.
From BBC ● Jun. 3, 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
One day he chanced to see a mighty eagle, greater and more splendid than any mortal bird, bearing a maiden to an island not far away.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
If chancing the arm sounds simple, look what happened when Zak Crawley tried the same.
From BBC ● Dec. 6, 2024
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
Bayern’s supporters appeal for a penalty, but they’re chancing their arms on that one.
From The Guardian ● May 3, 2016
And that, members of both groups say, was the motivation for chancing the possibility that the whole enterprise might fail and alienate both bands' followings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2015
“We will,” Lily replies, chancing a smile at me.
From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish
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.
