chance Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a possibility due to a favorable combination of circumstances
    opportunity.
    • the holiday gave us the opportunity to visit Washington
    • now is your chance
  2. noun an unknown and unpredictable phenomenon that causes an event to result one way rather than another
    fortune; hazard; luck.
    • bad luck caused his downfall
    • we ran into each other by pure chance
  3. noun a risk involving danger
    • you take a chance when you let her drive
  4. noun a measure of how likely it is that some event will occur; a number expressing the ratio of favorable cases to the whole number of cases possible
    probability.
    • the probability that an unbiased coin will fall with the head up is 0.5
  5. noun the possibility of future success
    prospect.
    • his prospects as a writer are excellent
  6. verb be the case by chance
    • I chanced to meet my old friend in the street
  7. verb take a risk in the hope of a favorable outcome
    risk; take a chance; hazard; take chances; adventure; gamble; run a risk.
    • When you buy these stocks you are gambling
  8. verb come upon, as if by accident; meet with
    bump; happen; find; encounter.
    • We find this idea in Plato
    • I happened upon the most wonderful bakery not very far from here
    • She chanced upon an interesting book in the bookstore the other day
  9. adjective satellite occurring or appearing or singled out by chance
    casual.
    • seek help from casual passers-by
    • a casual meeting
    • a chance occurrence

WordNet

Chance noun
Etymology
F. chance, OF. cheance, fr. LL. cadentia a allusion to the falling of the dice), fr. L. cadere to fall; akin to Skr. çad to fall, L. cedere to yield, E. cede. Cf. Cadence.
Definitions
  1. A supposed material or psychical agent or mode of activity other than a force, law, or purpose; fortune; fate; -- in this sense often personifed.
    It is strictly and philosophically true in nature and reason that there is no such thing as chance or accident; it being evident that these words do not signify anything really existing, anything that is truly an agent or the cause of any event; but they signify merely men's ignorance of the real and immediate cause. Samuel Clark.
    Any society into which chance might throw him. Macaulay.
    That power Which erring men call Chance. Milton.
  2. The operation or activity of such agent.
    By chance a priest came down that way. Luke x. 31.
  3. The supposed effect of such an agent; something that befalls, as the result of unknown or unconsidered forces; the issue of uncertain conditions; an event not calculated upon; an unexpected occurrence; a happening; accident; fortuity; casualty.
    It was a chance that happened to us. 1 Sam. vi. 9.
    The Knave of Diamonds tries his wily arts, And wins (O shameful chance!) the Queen of Hearts. Pope.
    I spake of most disastrous chance. Shak.
  4. A possibity; a likelihood; an opportunity; -- with reference to a doubtful result; as, a chance result; as, a chance to escape; a chance for life; the chances are all against him.
    So weary with disasters, tugged with fortune. That I would get my life on any chance, To mend it, or be rid on't Shak.
  5. (Math.) Probability. ✍ The mathematical expression, of a chance is the ratio of frequency with which an event happens in the long run. If an event may happen in a ways and may fail in b ways, and each of these a + b ways is equally likely, the chance, or probability, that the event will happen is measured by the fraction a/(a + b), and the chance, or probability, that it will fail is measured by b/(a + b).
Chance intransitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Chanced ; present participle & verbal noun Chancing
Definitions
  1. To happen, come, or arrive, without design or expectation. "Things that chance daily." Robynson (More's Utopia).
    If a bird's nest chance to be before thee. Deut. xxii. 6.
    I chanced on this letter. Shak.
    Often used impersonally; as, how chances it?
    How chance, thou art returned so soon? Shak.
Chance transitive verb
Definitions
  1. To take the chances of; to venture upon; -- usually with it as object.
    Come what will, I will chance it. W. D. Howells.
  2. To befall; to happen to. Obs. W. Lambarde.
Chance adjective
Definitions
  1. Happening by chance; casual.
Chance adverb
Definitions
  1. By chance; perchance. Gray.

Webster 1913