chance

View more Literature & Language videos

also chance on

noun

1. The quality shared by random, unintended, or unpredictable events or this quality regarded as the cause of such events: fortuitousness, fortuity, fortune, hap, hazard, luck. See certain/uncertain.
2. The likeliness of a given event occurring: likelihood, odds, possibility, probability, prospect (used in plural). See likely/unlikely.
3. An unexpected random event: accident, fluke, fortuity, hap, happenchance, happenstance, hazard. See certain/uncertain, surprise/expect.
4. A favorable or advantageous combination of circumstances: break, occasion, opening, opportunity. Informal shot. See luck/misfortune/chance.
5. A possibility of danger or harm: gamble, hazard, risk. See safety/danger.

verb

1. To take place by chance: befall, hap, happen. See happen.
2. To run the risk of: adventure, hazard, risk, venture. See safety/danger.

phrasal verb - chance on (or upon)

To find or meet by chance: bump into, come across, come on (or upon), find, happen on (or upon), light on (or upon), run across, run into, stumble on (or upon), tumble on. Archaic alight on (or upon). Idioms: meet up with,, meet.

adjective

1. Occurring unexpectedly: accidental, casual, contingent, fluky, fortuitous, inadvertent, odd. See surprise/expect.
2. Having no particular pattern, purpose, organization, or structure: desultory, haphazard, hit-or-miss, indiscriminate, random, spot, unplanned. See planned/unplanned.

Idioms beginning with chance:
chance it
chance on

See also by chance; Chinaman's 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.

adj

Definition: accidental, unforeseeable
Antonyms: designed, foreseeable, planned, understood

n

Definition: fate, luck
Antonyms: aim, design, plan, scheme

n

Definition: gamble
Antonyms: certainty, surety

n

Definition: possibility
Antonyms: impossibility, unlikelihood

v

Definition: risk, endanger
Antonyms: aim, design, plan, scheme, understand

Chance is frequently regarded as unreal, a mere reflection of human ignorance, due to be eroded by the onset of deterministic science. In ancient and medieval philosophy chance could be contrasted with divine purpose, and until the 18th century the concept was of little application, since nothing is strictly due to chance when God's purpose is shown in all creation. The equally ancient opposition between chance and science was eroded after the rise of statistics and probability theory in the 17th century. Probability became the ‘guide of life’ providing the tools with which to assess chances in insurance and gambling, discovering causal connections, finding rates of mortality, crime, and marriage, even before the onset of probabilistic theories in physics, such as statistical mechanics and then quantum mechanics. The problem of interpretation is that of deciding whether probabilities measure something ‘real’ or whether they merely reflect the beliefs of reasonable persons faced with various quantities of data (see personalism). The widespread view that quantum mechanics is irreducibly probabilistic, so that quantum events do not merely manifest superficial randomness overlaying a deterministic basis, is the main stimulus to attempts to give theories of what chance ‘really is’, or of how fundamental laws of nature can have a probabilistic form. One difficulty lies in seeing how two universes that are the same in respect of the events that occur, might yet differ in the chance with which those events came about.

IN BRIEF: The possibility or probability of something happening.

Those who trust to chance must abide by the results of chance. — Calvin Coolidge, (1872-1933), American statesman, 30th U.S. president from 1923 to 1929.

LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!

Quotes:

"Accident counts for as much in companionship as in marriage." - Henry Brooks Adams

"Chance is the providence of adventurers." - Napoleon Bonaparte

"In practical life the wisest and soundest people avoid speculation." - George Earle Buckle

"Chance can allow you to accomplish a goal every once in a while, but consistent achievement happens only if you love what you are doing." - Bart Conner

"A fool must now and then be right, by chance." - William Cowper

"Chance makes our parents, but choice makes our friends." - Jacques Delille

See more famous quotes about Chance

For a list of words related to chance, see:

• Baseball - chance: a recognized occasion on which a fielder acts on a ball, resulting in an assist, put-out, fielder’s choice, or error
• Fate - chance: luck, contingency

---

See words rhyming with "chance."

  See crossword solutions for the clue Chance .

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - chance, lejlighed, tilfælde, skæbnen
v. intr. - ske
v. tr. - risikere, støde på, slumpe til
adj. - tilfældig

idioms:

• by any chance    under nogen omstændigheder
• by chance    tilfældigvis
• chance on    støde på
• take chances    løbe en risiko, tage chancer

Nederlands (Dutch)
kans, het lot, waarschijnlijkheid, gelegenheid, toeval, risico, wagen, (toevallig) gebeuren

Français (French)
n. - possibilité, occasion, chance, hasard, risque
v. intr. - risquer, courir le risque (de faire), venir à faire, rencontrer (qn) par hasard (qn) (sout)
v. tr. - rencontrer (qn) par hasard (sout), courir le risque (de faire), risquer, tenter, venir à faire
adj. - fortuit, accidentel

idioms:

• by any chance    par hasard
• by chance    accidentellement, fortuitement, par accident
• chance on    rencontrer (qn) par hasard
• chance upon    trouver (qch) par hasard
• take chances    prendre des risques

Deutsch (German)
v. - riskieren, zufällig geschehen
n. - Chance, Gelegenheit, Zufall
adj. - zufällig

idioms:

• by any chance    zufällig
• by chance    zufällig
• chance on    zufällig stoßen auf
• chance upon    etw. zufällig finden, jmdn. zufällig treffen, sich mit jmdm. zufällig treffen
• take chances    riskieren

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - διακινδυνεύω, αποτολμώ, ριψοκινδυνεύω, ρισκάρω, συμβαίνω, τυχαίνω
n. - ευκαιρία, πιθανότητα, πιθανή εξέλιξη, ενδεχόμενο, τύχη, σύμπτωση, περίσταση, συγκυρία, κίνδυνος, ρίσκο
adj. - τυχαίος, συμπτωματικός

idioms:

• by any chance    μήπως
• by chance    κατά τύχη, κατά σύμπτωση
• chance on    συναντώ τυχαία
• take chances    ριψοκινδυνεύω

Italiano (Italian)
avventurare, azzardare, rischiare, occasione, probabilità, caso

idioms:

• by any chance    per caso
• by chance    casualmente, fortuitamente, per caso
• chance on    imbattersi in
• not a snowball's chance in hell    senza un bricciolo di probabilità
• take chances    rischiare, azzardare

Português (Portuguese)
v. - arriscar, ocorrer ao acaso
n. - chance (f)
adj. - ocasional

idioms:

• by any chance    por algum acaso
• by chance    por acaso
• chance on    topar com
• not a snowball's chance in hell    de maneira nenhuma
• run at the chance    correr atrás da sorte
• take chances    correr riscos

Русский (Russian)
случиться, шанс, вероятность

idioms:

• by any chance    случайно
• by chance    случайно
• chance on    наткнуться
• not a snowball's chance in hell    имеющий нулевые шансы
• run at the chance    как бы хотелось, не отказался бы
• take chances    попытаться

Español (Spanish)
n. - oportunidad, ocasión, probabilidad, posibilidad, azar, casualidad, suerte
v. intr. - aventurarse, jugarse, arriesgarse
v. tr. - arriesgar, probar
adj. - oportunidad, ocasión, probabilidad, posibilidad, azar, casualidad, suerte

idioms:

• by any chance    por casualidad
• by chance    casualmente, accidentalmente
• chance on    encontrar por casualidad, tropezar con
• chance upon    encontrar por casualidad, tropezar con
• take chances    arriesgar, correr riesgos, tentar la suerte

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - hända sig, råka på, riskera
n. - tillfällighet, chans
adj. - tillfällig

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
机会, 可能性, 意外, 偶然发生, 试试看, 冒险, 偶然的, 意想不到的, 碰巧的

idioms:

• by any chance    万一
• by chance    偶然地, 意外地
• chance on    偶然发现
• take chances    冒险, 投机

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 機會, 可能性, 意外
v. intr. - 偶然發生, 試試看
v. tr. - 冒險
adj. - 偶然的, 意想不到的, 碰巧的

idioms:

• by any chance    萬一
• by chance    偶然地, 意外地
• chance on    偶然發現
• take chances    冒險, 投機

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 우연, 기회, 가망
v. intr. - 우연히 일어나다
v. tr. - 운에 맡기고 해보다
adj. - 우연한

idioms:

• by any chance    만일
• by chance    우연히
• chance on    우연히 만나다
• take chances    운명에 맡기고 해보다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 偶然, 見込み, 可能性, 危険, 賭け, 機会, 好機
adj. - 偶然の
v. - 偶然…する, あえてする, 賭ける, 偶然起こる

idioms:

• by any chance    ひょっとして
• by chance    偶然に
• chance on    偶然出会う
• fighting chance    勝機
• not a snowball's chance in hell    絶対にありえない
• off chance    もしやと思って
• run at the chance    危険を冒す
• sporting chance    五分五分の見込み
• take chances    賭けに出る

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) جرب, قامر, غامر, صادف (الاسم) صدفه, حظ, بخت, مصادفه, فرصه, احتمال (صفه) عابرة, مصادفه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮מזל, מקרה, הזדמנות, שעת-כושר, סיכון, אפשרות, גורל, סיכוי‬
v. intr. - ‮הזדמן, קרה‬
v. tr. - ‮סיכן‬
adj. - ‮מקרי, לא צפוי‬

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.