English Explanatory Dictionary

chance

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. An opportunity or possibility.
  2. Random occurrence; luck.
  3. The probability of something happening.
  4. probability; possibility.
  5. What befalls or happens to a person; their lot or fate.
adj
  1. Happening by chance, casual.
adv
  1. Perchance; perhaps.
verb
  1. To happen by chance, to occur.
  2. To befall; to happen to.
  3. To try or risk.
  4. To discover something by chance.
  5. To rob, cheat or swindle someone.
  6. To take an opportunity from someone; to cut a queue.
name
  1. An unincorporated community in Adair County, Kentucky, United States.
  2. A census-designated place in Somerset County, Maryland, United States.
  3. A census-designated place in Adair County, Oklahoma, United States.
  4. An unincorporated community in Perkins County, South Dakota, United States.
  5. An unincorporated community in Essex County, Virginia, United States.
  6. A male given name from English, an American pet form of Chauncey, in modern usage also associated with the word chance.
  7. A surname.

Pronunciation

/t͡ʃæns/ [t͡ʃʰæns] [t͡ʃʰɛəns] [t͡ʃʰeəns] en-us-chance.ogg [t͡ʃʰans] en-GB-chance.ogg [t͡ʃʰæːns] [t͡ʃʰɛːns] /t͡ʃɑːns/ [t͡ʃʰɑːns] en-uk-chance.ogg [t͡ʃʰäːns] [t͡ʃʰɐːns] [t͡ʃɑːns] [t͡ʃʰɛəns~t͡ʃʰeəns] [t͡ʃʰæns~t͡ʃʰans]

Word forms

chance chances chaunce chancing chanced

Etymology

From Middle English chance, cheance, chaunce, cheaunce, a borrowing from Old French cheance (“accident, chance, luck”), from Vulgar Latin *cadentia (“falling”), from Latin cadere (“to fall, to die, to happen, occur”). Doublet of cadence and cadenza.

Synonyms

fortune hap adventure accident casualty chance chance-medley hazard joss luck serendipity weird eventuality contingency contingent possibility potentiality destiny doom destin fatality fate foredoom foreordination kismet lot orlay portion predestination predestiny preordination qadar wyrd come to pass occur transpire come on come upon encounter stumble upon fool trick test come across deceive

Derived words

bechance blow one's chance Buckley's chance by any chance by chance cat in hell's chance cat's chance in hell chanceable chance acquaintance chance card chance'd be a fine thing chance fracture chanceful chanceless chancely chance-medley chance passenger chancer chances are chance the ducks chancewise chance would be a fine thing chancy Chinaman's chance Chinaman's chance in hell Come By Chance dog's chance even chance fair chance fat chance fighting chance first-chance exception game of chance give chance to half a chance half-chance happenchance happy chance in with a chance jump at the chance jump on the chance last chance last chance saloon leave to chance main chance mum chance no chance not a chance off chance off-chance on the off chance outside chance overchance perchance second chance shutter chance slim chance smart chance snowball's chance snowball's chance in an oven
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