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chance

AUSCHANS/t͡ʃæns/CHAHNS/t͡ʃɑːns/

Pluralchances

Verbchances, chancing, chanced

11 meanings of chance

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  1. 1
    opportunitynouncountable
    An opportunity or possibility to do or achieve something.

    She finally got the chance to prove herself on a bigger stage.

    He saw a chance to escape and seized it.

    UsageSay a chance to do or a chance of doing, and get or have the chance: a slim chance, a good chance.

    Similaropportunity, opening

    Note

    The American novelist Winston Churchill's The Celebrity (1897) shows the sense at its most decisive: "Here was my chance," says the narrator, and he acts at once.

  2. 2
    possibilitynouncountable or uncountable
    The general probability or possibility of something coming about.

    There is no chance of catching the last train now.

    Given the weather, there is some chance of the flight being delayed.

    UsageThe chances are (that) means probably. Say no chance of + -ing, and for figures a 30 percent chance.

    Similarpossibility, probability, eventuality, contingency, potentiality

  3. 3
    by lucknoununcountable
    Random happenings, or the working of luck rather than plan or cause.

    By sheer chance, the two old friends ended up on the same flight.

    Scientists try to design experiments so that chance cannot explain the results.

    UsageNo article in set phrases: by chance, by sheer chance, leave it to chance.

    Similarluck, fortune, accident, serendipity

    Oppositedesign, intention

  4. 4
    riskverbtransitive
    To risk something, or to do or attempt something despite the risk of failure, loss, or harm.

    He decided to chance everything on a single bet.

    We could chance the shortcut, though the trail might be flooded.

    UsageThe object can be what you stake or what you try: chance everything on a bet, chance the shortcut.

    Similarrisk, gamble, stake, venture

    Note

    The risk-taking verb has its own idiom, chance it, where it stands for whatever might go wrong. William Dean Howells's A Hazard of New Fortunes (1889) says of a man that he "does chance it in stocks."

  5. 5
    accidentaladjective
    Occurring by accident rather than by plan or arrangement.

    A chance encounter at the conference led to a long partnership.

    The discovery was the result of a chance observation in the lab.

    UsageComes before a noun: a chance meeting, a chance discovery. To compare, use accidental or unplanned.

    Similaraccidental, unplanned, fortuitous, random, unexpected

    Oppositeplanned, deliberate, intentional, arranged

    Note

    The noun turned adjective by standing in front of another noun. Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities has not even "a chance passer-by" in the street, and Somerset Maugham's The Moon and Sixpence writes of "some chance reader."

    Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

    • Charles Dickens wrote A Tale of Two Cities, which describes a street without even a chance passer-by. en.wikisource.org
    • Somerset Maugham wrote The Moon and Sixpence, which contains the words “some chance reader.” gutenberg.org

Practice

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Origins

Meanings 1–3, 5, 7–8

Chance comes from Middle English, borrowed from Old French cheance ("accident, chance, luck"). This traces back through Vulgar Latin *cadentia ("falling") to Latin cadere ("to fall, to die, to happen"). It is a doublet of cadence and cadenza.

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 4 facts

  • Chance comes through Middle English from Old French cheance, meaning 'accident, chance, luck'. en.wiktionary.org
  • The etymology traces through reconstructed Vulgar Latin *cadentia, meaning 'falling'. en.wiktionary.org
  • The ultimate Latin source is cadere, with meanings including 'to fall, to die, to happen'. en.wiktionary.org
  • Chance is a doublet of cadence and cadenza. en.wiktionary.org
Meanings 4, 6, 9–10

The verb comes from Middle English chancen, formed from the noun chance.

Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts