chance
137
2.1
- noun
- /tʃæns/
- But what are the chances of that?
- only by chance
- happen by chance
- pure chance
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Watch on YouTubeAn exact way, not by chance, but in an exact way?
- An exact way, not by chance, but in an exact way?
- There's no such thing as chance in the world.
- Now, tuche is chance or luck in Greek, right?
- And then in the early noughties, a chance encounter on a golf course.
- So to accept errors is to strengthen chance, not to contravene it.
- Your choices are half chance, so are everybody else's.
Examples
-
The scientist attributed some rare discoveries to chance rather than deliberate experimentation.
-
No, the chance of this is very small.
-
Things do not simply happen by chance; rather, we make them happen by design.
Academic text (1990) -
It's the role of chance in evolutionary events.
-
With this change also comes a chance for greater cooperation with the United States.
Academic text (2008) -
There's just less of a chance of issues.
-
There was and still is little chance of massive violence occurring in central Sri Lanka.
Academic text (2008) -
Their joint efforts will greatly increase the chances that the child will make a realistic vocational choice.
Academic text (1991) -
There is always a chance that it will rain during the picnic.
-
Winning the lottery is a matter of chance; the odds are typically against you.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
A force that makes good or bad things happen by chance
∞
2.0
A chance that something may happen
452
3.4
A surprising event that happens at the same time as another by chance
212
3.6
The chance that something will happen, often shown as a number or percent
154
1.0
An unexpected event that happens by chance
18
5.4
A lack of any predictable order or plan
14
2.4
A good but not certain chance of success
14
8.5
A chance event that seems planned but is actually an accident
9
4.8
A result that depends only on chance, like drawing names from a hat
2
3.4
An event that happens by accident and is not planned
1
3.5
A fair possibility of success that is not certain
1
3.6
The chance that something will happen
1
9.1
An unexpected event that happens by chance
Antonyms
Idioms
- Informal
A famous baseball double play that stands for perfect teamwork
Compounds
1
4.8
The possibility that two people will be friendly again after a disagreement
- Specialized
1
9.9
Music in which some sounds happen by accident or by a player's choice
- Specialized
1
7.9
A number that takes different values by chance in statistics to show random results
- Specialized
A number that shows how similar scores are between two random halves of a test
How Random
Surface Forms
Etymology
Chance comes from the Latin casus, 'a fall' or 'an event', and keeps the idea of things that 'fall' on us without a plan. That is why chance also means an unpredictable event or luck.