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.
-
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.
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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)
verb (used with object)
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
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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
Synonym Usage
See happen.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
chancesimple
-
chancessimple
-
have chancedperfect
-
has chancedperfect
-
am chancingprogressive
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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
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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:
Gen Z regarded the movies as a chance for a social gathering, the Fandango research said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026
"If we don't understand what climate change, ocean warming or acidification does to coral ecosystems, there is a chance we're going to lose them," Ravasi said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
Regardless, it is still just two games into the season for a new-look team who will be expecting to compete for domestic honours and still have a chance at Europa League or Conference League football.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
President Trump paused U.S. airstrikes on Iran on Friday to give peace talks a chance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
“I’ve never seen this place before,” Chitto said, giving Harry a chance to settle down from whatever was happening in her head.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Many believe their chances of ever buying a home are slim to none, and it can be tough for recent college graduates to break into today’s job market.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026
And Kessler is a blessing on the glass, the king of second chances.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
If AI can help fine-tune the design of a clinical trial to improve its chances of success, that could end up being a big benefit, Soriot says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Increasing the chances of adult fish to breed through management plans, fishing bans and protected routes to sea are seen as key to restoring the species.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
Although Kermit wrote to his father, “I didn’t think I had a chance in a million nor did anyone else,” he brushed off the incident, writing that it was “the chances of the game.”
From "Death on the River of Doubt" by Samantha Seiple
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
Shopper Sandra Turton, who chanced upon the sale in Wigan, said it was "absolutely brilliant".
From BBC ● Jul. 7, 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
I chanced a wan peek out of the flounce.
From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck
“I was chancing my arm seeing if I could get flying lessons,” Jean-Baptiste continues, laughing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 7, 2025
He had heard stories of people chancing upon diamonds and hoped that he too would get lucky one day.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 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
“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.
