Chance

• POS: Noun, Verb (transitive)

CIDE DICTIONARY

Chance, n. [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.].

•  A supposed material or psychical agent or mode of activity other than a force, law, or purpose; fortune; fate; -- in this sense often personified.  [1913 Webster]

  "Many of the everyday events which people observe and attribute to chance fall into the category described by Clark, as being in practice too complex for people to easily predict, but in theory predictable if one were to know the actions of the causal agents in great detail. At the subatomic level, however, there is much evidence to support the notion derived from Heisenberg's uncertaintly principle, that phenomena occur in nature which are truly randomly determined, not merely too complex to predict or observe accurately. Such phenomena, however, are observed only with one or a very small number of subatomic particles. When the probabilities of observed events are determined by the behavior of aggregates of millions of particles, the variations due to such quantum indeterminacy becomes so small as to be unobservable even over billions of repetitions, and may therefore be ignored in practical situations; such variations are so improbable that it would be irrational to condition anything of consequence upon the occurrence of such an improbable event. A clever experimenter, nevertheless, may contrive a system where a very visible event (such as the dynamiting of a building) depends on the occurrence of a truly chance subatomic event (such as the disintegration of a single radioactive nucleus). In such a contrived situation, one may accurately speak of an event determined by chance, in the sense of a random occurrence completely unpredictable, at least as to time."  [PJC]

  "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."  [1913 Webster]

  "Any society into which chance might throw him."  [1913 Webster]

  "That power
  Which erring men call Chance."  [1913 Webster]
•  The operation or activity of such agent.  [1913 Webster]

  "By chance a priest came down that way."  [1913 Webster]
•  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.  [1913 Webster]

  "This quotation is usually found in the form "Chance favors the prepared mind." It is a common rejoinder to the assertion that a scientist was "lucky" to have made some particular discovery because of unanticipated factors. A related quotation, from the Nobel-Prize-winning chemist R. B. Woodward, is that "A scientist has to work wery hard to get to the point where he can be lucky.""  [PJC]

  "In the field of observation, chance favors only the mind that is prepared."  [PJC]

  "It was a chance that happened to us."  [1913 Webster]

  "The Knave of Diamonds tries his wily arts,
  And wins (O shameful chance!) the Queen of Hearts."  [1913 Webster]

  "I spake of most disastrous chance."  [1913 Webster]
•  A possibility; a likelihood; an opportunity; -- with reference to a doubtful result; as, a chance to escape; a chance for life; the chances are all against him.  [1913 Webster]

  "So weary with disasters, tugged with fortune.
  That I would get my life on any chance,
  To mend it, or be rid on 't"  [1913 Webster]
•  Probability.  [1913 Webster]

  " 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."  [1913 Webster]

Chance comer, one who comes unexpectedly. -- The last chance, the sole remaining ground of hope. -- The main chance, the chief opportunity; that upon which reliance is had, esp. self-interest. -- Theory of chances, Doctrine of chances (Math.), that branch of mathematics which treats of the probability of the occurrence of particular events, as the fall of dice in given positions. -- To mind one's chances, to take advantage of every circumstance; to seize every opportunity.

Chance, v. i. 

 To happen, come, or arrive, without design or expectation.  Robynson (More's Utopia).  [1913 Webster]
"Often used impersonally; as, how chances it?"  [1913 Webster]
"If a bird's nest chance to be before thee."  [1913 Webster]
"I chanced on this letter."  [1913 Webster]
"How chance, thou art returned so soon?"  [1913 Webster]

Chance, v. t. 

•  To take the chances of; to venture upon; -- usually with it as object.  [1913 Webster]

  "Come what will, I will chance it."  [1913 Webster]
•  To befall; to happen to.  W. Lambarde.  [1913 Webster]

Chance, a. 

 Happening by chance; casual.  [1913 Webster]

Chance, adv. 

 By chance; perchance.  Gray.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Chance, n., adj., & v.
--n.
1 a a possibility (just a chance we will catch the train). b (often in pl.) probability (the chances are against it).
2 a risk (have to take a chance).
3 a an undesigned occurrence (just a chance that they met). b the absence of design or discoverable cause (here merely because of chance).
4 an opportunity (didn't have a chance to speak to him).
5 the way things happen; fortune; luck (we'll just leave it to chance).
6 (often Chance) the course of events regarded as a power; fate (blind Chance rules the universe).
7 Cricket an opportunity for dismissing a batsman.
--adj. fortuitous, accidental (a chance meeting).
--v.
1 tr. colloq. risk (we'll chance it and go).
2 intr. (often foll. by that + clause, or to + infin.) happen without intention (it chanced that I found it; I chanced to find it).

Idiom

by any chance as it happens; perhaps. by chance without design; unintentionally. chance one's arm make an attempt though unlikely to succeed. chance on (or upon) happen to find, meet, etc. game of chance a game decided by luck, not skill. the off chance the slight possibility. on the chance (often foll. by of, or that + clause) in view of the possibility. stand a chance have a prospect of success etc. take a chance (or chances) behave riskily; risk failure. take a (or one's) chance on (or with) consent to take the consequences of; trust to luck.

Etymology

ME f. AF ch(e)aunce, OF ch{euml}ance ch{euml}oir fall ult. f. L cadere

THESAURUS

Chance

a leg up, accidental, accidentally, advantage, adventitious, adventure, aleatoric, aleatory, amorphous, appear, approach, aptitude, aptness, arise, assay, attempt, bare possibility, bechance, befall, bet, betide, blind bargain, blobby, blurred, blurry, borderline case, bout, brave, break, broad, bump, by chance, calculated risk, capriciousness, careless, casual, causeless, certainty, chance it, chances, chanciness, chancy, changeableness, chaotic, clear stage, come, come about, come along, come forth, come into being, come into existence, come on, come to pass, conceivability, conceivableness, conceivably, confused, contingency, contingent, court destruction, crop up, dare, defy danger, destinal, dicey, disordered, double contingency, draw on, endanger, engage, erraticism, erraticness, essay, even chance, eventuality, expectation, face up to, fair expectation, fair field, fair game, fall out, fatal, fate, fatidic, favorable prospect, fickleness, flier, fluke, fluky, foggy, forget the odds, fortuitous, fortuity, fortune, fuzzy, gamble, gamble on, general, go, good chance, good possibility, guess, hap, happen, happen along, happen by chance, hazard, hazy, heedless, hesitancy, hesitation, hit, hit-or-miss, hope, iffy, ill-defined, imperil, imprecise, inaccurate, inadvertent, inadvertently, incalculability, incertitude, inchoate, incidental, incoherent, indecision, indecisive, indecisiveness, indefinable, indefinite, indemonstrability, indeterminable, indeterminacy, indeterminate, indetermination, indeterminism, indistinct, inexact, inning, innings, irresolution, jeopardize, lax, liability, liableness, liberty, lift a finger, light, likelihood, likeliness, look-in, loose, lot, luck, make an attempt, make an effort, materialize, maybe, meet, nonspecific, obligation, obscure, occasion, occur, odd, odds, off chance, offer, open question, opening, opportunism, opportunity, orderless, outlook, outside chance, outside hope, perhaps, piece of guesswork, place, play, play with fire, plunge, pop up, possibility, possibleness, possibly, potential, potentiality, predictability, present itself, presumption, presumptive evidence, probabilism, probability, proneness, prospect, question, random, randomness, reasonable ground, reasonable hope, relief, rely on fortune, remote possibility, risk, risky, room, round, run a chance, run the chance, run the risk, say, scope, set at hazard, shadowed forth, shadowy, shapeless, shot, show, show up, sight-unseen transaction, small hope, speculation, spell, spring up, squeak, stake, stepping-stone, stochastic, stumble, suspense, suspensefulness, sweeping, take a chance, take a flier, take chances, take place, tempt Providence, tempt fortune, tendency, the attainable, the feasible, the possible, thinkability, thinkableness, time, time at bat, toss-up, touch and go, transpire, trust to chance, try, try the chance, tumble, turn, turn up, unaccountability, uncaused, uncertainness, uncertainty, uncertainty principle, unclear, undecided issue, undecidedness, undefined, undertake, undestined, undetermined, undeterminedness, unexpected, unforeseeable, unforeseeableness, unforeseen, unintentional, unintentionally, unlooked-for, unplain, unplanned, unpredictability, unpredictable, unpremeditated, unprovability, unspecified, unsureness, unverifiability, vacillation, vague, veiled, venture, venture on, venture upon, verisimilitude, virtuality, wager, weakness, well-grounded hope, whack, what is possible, what may be, what might be, whimsicality

ROGET THESAURUS

Chance

Absence of Motive

N absence of motive, aimlessness, caprice, chance, without rhyme or reason, aimless, capricious, whimsical, out of mere caprice.

Chance

N chance, lot, fate, luck, good luck, mascot, speculation, venture, stake, game of chance, mere shot, random shot, blind bargain, leap in the dark, pig in a poke, fluke, potluck, faro bank, flyer, limit, uncertainty, uncertainty principle, Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, drawing lots, sortilegy, sortition, sortes, sortes Virgilianae, rouge et noir, hazard, ante, chuck-a-luck, crack-loo, craps, faro, roulette, pitch and toss, chuck, farthing, cup tossing, heads or tails cross and pile, poker-dice, wager, bet, betting, gambling, the turf, gaming house, gambling house, betting house, bucket shop, gambling joint, totalizator, totalizer, hell, betting ring, dice, dice box, gambler, gamester, man of the turf, adventurer, dicer, fortuitous, unintentional, unintended, accidental, not meant, undesigned, purposed, unpremeditated, unforeseen, uncontemplated, never thought of, random, indiscriminate, promiscuous, undirected, aimless, driftless, designless, purposeless, causeless, without purpose, possible, unforeseeable, unpredictable, chancy, risky, speculative, dicey, randomly, by chance, fortuitously, unpredictably, unforeseeably, casually, unintentionally, unwittingly, en passant, by the way, incidentally, as it may happen, at random, at a venture, at haphazard, acierta errando, dextro tempore, fearful concatenation of circumstances, fortuitous combination of circumstances, le jeu est le fils d'avarice et le pere du desespo, the happy combination of fortuitous circumstances, the fortuitous or casual concourse of atoms, God does not play dice with the universe, chance, indetermination, accident, fortune, hazard, hap, haphazard, chance medley, random, luck, raccroc, casualty, contingence, adventure, hit, fate, equal chance, lottery, tombola, toss up, turn of the table, turn of the cards, hazard of the die, chapter of accidents, fickle finger of fate, cast of the dice, throw of the dice, heads or tails, flip of a coin, wheel of Fortune, sortes, sortes Virgilianae, probability, possibility, odds, long odds, run of luck, accidentalness, main chance, odds on, favorable odds, contingency, dependence (uncertainty), situation (circumstance), statistics, theory of Probabilities, theory of Chances, bookmaking, assurance, speculation, gaming, casual, fortuitous, accidental, adventitious, causeless, incidental, contingent, uncaused, undetermined, indeterminate, random, statistical, possible, unintentional, by chance, accidentally, by accident, casually, perchance, for aught one knows, as good would have it, as bad would have it, as luck would have it, as ill-luck would have it, as chance would have it, as it may be, as it may chance, as it may turn up, as it may happen, as the case may be, grasps the skirts of happy chance, the accident of an accident, There but for the grace of God go I, chance, lot, fate, luck, good luck, mascot, speculation, venture, stake, game of chance, mere shot, random shot, blind bargain, leap in the dark, pig in a poke, fluke, potluck, faro bank, flyer, limit, uncertainty, uncertainty principle, Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, drawing lots, sortilegy, sortition, sortes, sortes Virgilianae, rouge et noir, hazard, ante, chuck-a-luck, crack-loo, craps, faro, roulette, pitch and toss, chuck, farthing, cup tossing, heads or tails cross and pile, poker-dice, wager, bet, betting, gambling, the turf, gaming house, gambling house, betting house, bucket shop, gambling joint, totalizator, totalizer, hell, betting ring, dice, dice box, gambler, gamester, man of the turf, adventurer, dicer, fortuitous, unintentional, unintended, accidental, not meant, undesigned, purposed, unpremeditated, unforeseen, uncontemplated, never thought of, random, indiscriminate, promiscuous, undirected, aimless, driftless, designless, purposeless, causeless, without purpose, possible, unforeseeable, unpredictable, chancy, risky, speculative, dicey, randomly, by chance, fortuitously, unpredictably, unforeseeably, casually, unintentionally, unwittingly, en passant, by the way, incidentally, as it may happen, at random, at a venture, at haphazard, acierta errando, dextro tempore, fearful concatenation of circumstances, fortuitous combination of circumstances, le jeu est le fils d'avarice et le pere du desespo, the happy combination of fortuitous circumstances, the fortuitous or casual concourse of atoms, God does not play dice with the universe, chance, indetermination, accident, fortune, hazard, hap, haphazard, chance medley, random, luck, raccroc, casualty, contingence, adventure, hit, fate, equal chance, lottery, tombola, toss up, turn of the table, turn of the cards, hazard of the die, chapter of accidents, fickle finger of fate, cast of the dice, throw of the dice, heads or tails, flip of a coin, wheel of Fortune, sortes, sortes Virgilianae, probability, possibility, odds, long odds, run of luck, accidentalness, main chance, odds on, favorable odds, contingency, dependence (uncertainty), situation (circumstance), statistics, theory of Probabilities, theory of Chances, bookmaking, assurance, speculation, gaming, casual, fortuitous, accidental, adventitious, causeless, incidental, contingent, uncaused, undetermined, indeterminate, random, statistical, possible, unintentional, by chance, accidentally, by accident, casually, perchance, for aught one knows, as good would have it, as bad would have it, as luck would have it, as ill-luck would have it, as chance would have it, as it may be, as it may chance, as it may turn up, as it may happen, as the case may be, grasps the skirts of happy chance, the accident of an accident, There but for the grace of God go I.

VB chance, stand a chance, toss up, cast lots, draw lots, leave to chance, trust to chance, leave to the chapter of accidents, trust to the chapter of accidents, tempt fortune, chance it, take one's chance, take a shot at it (attempt), run the risk, run the chance, incur the risk, incur the chance, encounter the risk, encounter the chance, stand the hazard of the die, speculate, try one's luck, set on a cast, raffle, put into a lottery, buy a pig in a poke, shuffle the cards, risk, venture, hazard, stake, ante, lay, lay a wager, make a bet, wager, bet, gamble, game, play for, play at chuck farthing, chance, hap, turn up, fall to one's lot, be one's fate, stumble on light upon, take one's chance, chance, stand a chance, toss up, cast lots, draw lots, leave to chance, trust to chance, leave to the chapter of accidents, trust to the chapter of accidents, tempt fortune, chance it, take one's chance, take a shot at it (attempt), run the risk, run the chance, incur the risk, incur the chance, encounter the risk, encounter the chance, stand the hazard of the die, speculate, try one's luck, set on a cast, raffle, put into a lottery, buy a pig in a poke, shuffle the cards, risk, venture, hazard, stake, ante, lay, lay a wager, make a bet, wager, bet, gamble, game, play for, play at chuck farthing, chance, hap, turn up, fall to one's lot, be one's fate, stumble on light upon, take one's chance.

Possibility

N possibility, potentiality, what may be, what is possible, compatibility, practicability, feasibility, practicableness, contingency, chance, V, be possible, stand a chance, admit of, bear, render possible, put in the way of, Adj, possible, in the cards, on the dice, in posse, within the bounds of possibility, conceivable, credible, compatible, likely, practicable, feasible, performable, achievable, within reach, within measurable distance, accessible, superable, surmountable, attainable, obtainable, contingent barely possible, marginally possible, just possible, possible but improbably, (improbable), theoretically possible, Adv, possibly, by possibility, perhaps, perchance, peradventure, maybe, may be, haply, mayhap, if possible, wind and weather permitting, God willing, Deo volente, D, possible, in the cards, on the dice, in posse, within the bounds of possibility, conceivable, credible, compatible, likely, practicable, feasible, performable, achievable, within reach, within measurable distance, accessible, superable, surmountable, attainable, obtainable, contingent barely possible, marginally possible, just possible, possible but improbably, (improbable), theoretically possible, possibly, by possibility, perhaps, perchance, peradventure, maybe, may be, haply, mayhap, if possible, wind and weather permitting, God willing, Deo volente, D, V, as luck may have it, misericordia Domini inter pontem et fontent, the glories of the Possible are ours, anything is possible, in theory possible, but in practise unlikely.

Probability

N probability, likelihood, credibleness, likeliness, vraisemblance, verisimilitude, plausibility, color, semblance, show of, presumption, presumptive evidence, circumstantial evidence, credibility, reasonable chance, fair chance, good chance, favorable chance, reasonable prospect, fair prospect, good prospect, favorable prospect, prospect, wellgrounded hope, chance, probable, likely, hopeful, to be expected, in a fair way, plausible, specious, ostensible, colorable, ben trovato, well-founded, reasonable, credible, easy of belief, presumable, presumptive, apparent, probably, belike, in all probability, in all likelihood, very likely, most likely, like enough, odds on, odds in favor, ten to one, apparently, seemingly, according to every reasonable expectation, prim=a facie, to all appearance, the chances, the odds are, appearances are in favor of, chances are in favor of, there is reason to believe, there is reason to think, there is reason to expect, I dare say, all Lombard Street to a China orange.