chance

[chans, chahns]

noun

1. 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

2. luck or fortune.

   a game of chance.

   Synonyms: fortuity, accident

3. a possibility or probability of anything happening.

   a fifty-percent chance of success.

   Synonyms: contingency

4. an opportune or favorable time; opportunity.

   Now is your chance.

   Synonyms: opening

5. Baseball.,  an opportunity to field the ball and make a putout or an assist.

6. a risk or hazard.

   Take a chance.

7. a share or ticket in a lottery or prize drawing.

   The charity is selling chances for a dollar each.

8. chances, probability.

   The chances are that the train hasn't left yet.

9. Midland and Southern U.S.,  a quantity or number (usually followed byof ).

   a fine chance of tomatoes, harvested fresh from the garden today.

10. Archaic.,  an unfortunate event; mishap.

verb (used without object)

chanced, chancing 

1. to happen or occur by chance.

   It chanced that our arrivals coincided.

   Synonyms: befall

verb (used with object)

chanced, chancing 

1. to take the chances or risks of; risk (often followed by impersonalit ).

   I'll have to chance it, whatever the outcome.

adjective

1. not planned or expected; accidental.

   a chance occurrence.

   Synonyms: fortuitous, casual

verb phrase

1. chance on / upon,  to come upon by chance; meet unexpectedly.

   She chanced on a rare kind of mushroom during her walk through the woods.

chance

/ tʃɑːns /

noun

1. 1. the unknown and unpredictable element that causes an event to result in a certain way rather than another, spoken of as a real force

   2. ( as modifier )

      a chance meeting

2. fortune; luck; fate

3. an opportunity or occasion

4. a risk; gamble

   you take a chance with his driving

5. the extent to which an event is likely to occur; probability

6. an unpredicted event, esp a fortunate one

   that was quite a chance, finding him here

7. archaic,  an unlucky event; mishap

8. 1. accidentally

      he slipped by chance

   2. perhaps

      do you by chance have a room?

9. it is likely (that) …

10. acting on the possibility; in case

11. the opportunity for personal gain (esp in the phrase an eye to the main chance )

verb

1. (tr) to risk; hazard

   I'll chance the worst happening

2. to happen by chance; be the case by chance

   I chanced to catch sight of her as she passed

3. to come upon by accident

   he chanced on the solution to his problem

4. to attempt to do something although the chance of success may be slight

Other Word Forms

• chanceless adjective
• chanceful adjective
• unchanced adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of chance¹

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”; cadenza

Word History and Origins

Origin of chance¹

C13: from Old French cheance, from cheoir to fall, occur, from Latin cadere

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. 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.

2. on the chance, in the mild hope or against the possibility.

   I'll wait on the chance that she'll come.

3. by chance, without plan or intent; accidentally.

   I met her again by chance in a department store in Paris.

More idioms and phrases containing chance

• Chinaman's chance
• by chance
• eye to the main chance
• fat chance
• fighting chance
• jump at (the chance)
• not have an earthly chance
• on the (off) chance
• snowball's chance in hell
• sporting chance
• stand a chance
• take a chance
• take one's chances

Synonym Study

See happen.

Example Sentences

"The technologies we have now are really a lot better than earlier gene therapy tools, but there's always a chance for these unintended consequences," Chauhan says.

Read more on Science Daily

Key details: Consumers expect the rate of inflation to rise by 4.7% in the next year, indicating they see little chance of a slowdown in price increases.

Read more on MarketWatch

It tastes the same as regular salt and can reduce the chance you’ll have a heart attack or stroke by 10-15%, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2021.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

U.K. money markets price only a small chance that the BOE will cut rates again by the end of the year.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The mystery trader’s purchases in a thinly traded market helped lift her chances to about 70%.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• break 
• likelihood 
• odds 
• opportunity 
• outlook 
• prospect 
• shot 
• time