chance

/tʃæns/

/tʃɑns/

Other forms: chances; chanced; chancing

A chance is a possibility — but it's not a sure thing. There could be a chance of rain today or a chance you'll be the lead in the school play.

Chance is sometimes about opportunity, as in getting a chance to try out for the baseball team. Sometimes it's just luck, as in taking a chance on a new car through a raffle at school. You could meet someone by chance, and you could say, "I chanced upon him at a coffee shop." Sometimes the word implies danger, as in "He took a chance when he signed up for skydiving." In any case, a chance is never a sure thing.

Definitions of chance

1. noun

   an unknown and unpredictable phenomenon that causes an event to result one way rather than another
   “we ran into each other by pure chance”

   synonyms: fortune, hazard, luck

   types:

   bad luck, mischance, mishap

   an unpredictable outcome that is unfortunate

   even chance, toss-up, tossup

   an unpredictable phenomenon

   type of:

   phenomenon

   any state or process known through the senses rather than by intuition or reasoning
2. noun

   a possibility due to a favorable combination of circumstances
   “now is your chance”

   synonyms: opportunity

   types:

   brass ring

   a rich opportunity or a prize

   day

   a period of opportunity

   clean slate, fresh start, tabula rasa

   an opportunity to start over without prejudice

   audience, hearing

   an opportunity to state your case and be heard

   hunting ground

   a place where opportunities abound

   occasion

   an opportunity to do something

   opening

   opportunity especially for employment or promotion

   room

   opportunity for

   say

   the chance to speak

   crack, shot

   a chance to do something

   street

   a situation offering opportunities

   throw

   a single chance or instance

   cut-rate sale, sale, sales event

   an occasion (usually brief) for buying at specially reduced prices

   type of:

   possibility, possibleness

   capability of existing or happening or being true
3. noun

   the possibility of future success
   synonyms: prospect

   type of:

   potency, potential, potentiality

   the inherent capacity for coming into being
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
   synonyms: probability

   types:

   conditional probability, contingent probability

   the probability that an event will occur given that one or more other events have occurred

   cross section

   (physics) the probability that a particular interaction (as capture or ionization) will take place between particles; measured in barns

   exceedance

   (geology) the probability that an earthquake will generate a level of ground motion that exceeds a specified reference level during a given exposure time

   fair chance, sporting chance

   a reasonable probability of success

   fat chance, slim chance

   little or no chance of success

   joint probability

   the probability of two events occurring together

   risk, risk of exposure

   the probability of being exposed to an infectious agent

   risk, risk of infection

   the probability of becoming infected given that exposure to an infectious agent has occurred

   type of:

   amount, measure, quantity

   how much there is or how many there are of something that you can quantify
5. adjective

   occurring or appearing or singled out by chance
   “a chance occurrence”

   synonyms: casual

   unplanned

   without apparent forethought or prompting or planning
6. verb

   come upon, as if by accident; meet with
   “She chanced upon an interesting book in the bookstore the other day”

   synonyms: bump, encounter, find, happen
7. verb

   be the case by chance
   “I chanced to meet my old friend in the street”

   types:

   happen

   chance to be or do something, without intention or causation

   type of:

   come about, fall out, go on, hap, happen, occur, pass, pass off, take place

   come to pass
8. noun

   a risk involving danger
   “you take a chance when you let her drive”

   type of:

   danger, peril, risk

   a venture undertaken without regard to possible loss or injury
9. verb

   take a risk in the hope of a favorable outcome
   synonyms: adventure, gamble, hazard, risk, run a risk, take a chance, take chances

   types:

   go for broke

   risk everything in one big effort

   luck it, luck through

   act by relying on one's luck

   type of:

   assay, attempt, essay, seek, try

   make an effort or attempt