🎲 A possibility 🍀 By luck 🎰 To risk 🔎 To find by accident 🤷 Unplanned

to chance

18 4.5

To risk doing something hoping for a good result

verb
/tʃæns/

: arriesgarse

I don't want to leave anything to chance.

And just buy the stuff that's good for you instead of chancing the stuff that's bad for you.

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Examples

We can't leave anything to chance.

The Numbers Station (2013)
You want to chance it and wait for the train?

Battle Circus (1953)
Will you chance it with me?

Albert Nobbs (2011)
We're gonna have to chance it.

Airport '77 (1977)
So take that chance 'cause life opens up when you do.
I don't want to chance getting turned away at the door.

Fiction book (1994)
As providers, we cannot leave to chance the success of the relationship between home health aide and patient.

Academic text (1994)
I had my license hearing coming up and I didn't wanna leave anything to chance.

Fiction book (1995)
But Bress, Charlotte County's director of technology, was attempting to leave nothing to chance.

Academic text (2007)
He decided to chance his luck at the card table, hoping to win some money.

Synonyms

to risk

vsto chance

∞ 3.0

To do something that may cause harm or lead to loss

is about risking in hope of gain rather than merely exposing to harm

to take a chance

vsto chance

91 3.3

To do something risky hoping for a good result

is the single-word form for the same risky action

to gamble

vsto chance

64 4.0

To take a risk hoping for a good result

is about risking for a positive result rather than stressing uncertainty

to take risks

vsto chance

56 3.2

Do things that might be dangerous to get something important

is for ordinary risky acts aiming for a good result not big rewards

to take a shot at

vsto chance

Informal

45 3.7

To try to do something even when success is uncertain

is about deliberately risking to gain a positive result rather than merely trying

to take chances

vsto chance

36 3.8

Do something risky hoping to do well

is more about a single risky act rather than repeated risky behaviour

to take a gamble

vsto chance

7 4.2

To do something risky hoping to get a good result

is the single-word form used for the same risky action

to take one's chance

vsto chance

Informal

4 4.2

Try a risky action hoping it will work

is used for general risky actions rather than acting on an opportunity

to hazard

vsto chance

2 5.1

To risk something important to try to gain something

focuses on risking to gain rather than on causing danger to something

to run a risk

vsto chance

2 3.0

To do something that might lead to harm or loss

is about risking to seek a positive result rather than accepting possible bad outcomes

to take a flyer

vsto chance

Informal

1 8.5

To try something risky when the result is not certain

is about hoping for a positive result rather than stressing uncertainty

to adventure

vsto chance

5.8

To risk something valuable hoping to get a good result

is the neutral risky action without the sense of excitement or hazard

to risk it for the biscuit

vsto chance

Slang

9.6

Take a chance to get a reward

is the neutral risky action used commonly rather than in informal slang

Idioms

by chance

66 2.3

Happening without planning or intending

on the off chance

13 6.7

Just in case there is a small chance something will happen

fat chance

Informal

2 8.1

A way to say something is very unlikely to happen

in with a chance

1 6.0

Having a real possibility of succeeding at something

Chinaman's chance

Slur

1 9.9

A very small chance, expressed by an old insulting phrase

dog's chance

8.4

A very small hope of success

Tinker to Evers to Chance

Informal

9.9

A famous baseball double play that stands for perfect teamwork

Phrasal Verbs

to take a chance

91 3.3

To do something risky hoping for a good result

to chance on

18 6.1

To find something or someone by accident while doing something else

to blow a chance

Informal

8 4.9

Miss a good opportunity by making a mistake

to take one's chance

Informal

4 4.2

Try a risky action hoping it will work

to chance upon

3 5.1

Find someone or something by accident

Compounds

second chance

223 2.3

An opportunity to try again after making a mistake

fighting chance

Informal

26 4.0

A real chance to succeed despite the difficulty

fair chance

12 2.4

A good but not certain chance of success

slim chance

10 3.4

A very small possibility that something will happen

game of chance

9 3.7

An activity where luck decides the result, like a lottery or roulette

outside chance

Informal

6 3.5

A very small possibility that something will happen

chance of rain

5 2.2

How likely it is to rain at a time or place

sporting chance

1 3.5

A fair possibility of success that is not certain

chance of reconciliation

1 4.8

The possibility that two people will be friendly again after a disagreement

chance event

1 3.4

An event that happens by accident and is not planned

last chance saloon

1 7.0

A final chance to succeed or avoid failure

chance music

Specialized

9.9

Music in which some sounds happen by accident or by a player's choice

chance variable

Specialized

7.9

A number that takes different values by chance in statistics to show random results

chance-half correlation

Specialized

9.8

A number that shows how similar scores are between two random halves of a test

chance-medley

Archaic

9.9

An unplanned killing during a sudden fight, often in self-defence

happy chance

3.9

A lucky unexpected event that brings something good

How Risky

to gamble

64 4.0

to risk

∞ 3.0

to chance

18 4.5

to venture

114 5.8

Surface Forms

chance infinitive

chanced past

chanced past participle

chancing present participle

chances third person singular

Etymology

Chance as a verb (to take a risk) links back to casus 'a fall', and a helpful way to remember it is to think of letting the result 'fall' where it may. To 'chance' something is to risk it and accept whatever happens.