American Heritage Dictionary Entry: chance HOW TO USE THE DICTIONARY To look up an entry in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, use the search window above. For best results, after typing in the word, click on the “Search” button instead of using the “enter” key. Some compound words (like bus rapid transit, dog whistle, or identity theft) don’t appear on the drop-down list when you type them in the search bar. For best results with compound words, place a quotation mark before the compound word in the search window. guide to the dictionary THE USAGE PANEL The Usage Panel is a group of nearly 200 prominent scholars, creative writers, journalists, diplomats, and others in occupations requiring mastery of language. Annual surveys have gauged the acceptability of particular usages and grammatical constructions. The Panelists NEED HELP SOLVING A CROSSWORD PUZZLE? Go to our Crossword Puzzle Solver and type in the letters that you know, and the Solver will produce a list of possible solutions. -- AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY APP The new American Heritage Dictionary app is now available for iOS and Android. THE AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY BLOG The articles in our blog examine new words, revised definitions, interesting images from the fifth edition, discussions of usage, and more. OPEN DICTIONARY PROJECT Share your ideas for new words and new meanings of old words! Start Sharing Now! -- See word lists from the best-selling 100 Words Series! Find out more! INTERESTED IN DICTIONARIES? Check out the Dictionary Society of North America at http://www.dictionarysociety.com chance (chăns) Share: Tweet n. 1. a. The unknown and unpredictable element in happenings that seems to have no assignable cause. b. A force assumed to cause events that cannot be foreseen or controlled; luck: Chance will determine the outcome. 2. often chances The likelihood of something happening; possibility or probability: Chances are good that you will win. Is there any chance of rain? 3. An accidental or unpredictable event: "He sprang to his feet and turned to run. At the same moment by a lucky chance the moon broke through the clouds" (Arthur Conan Doyle). 4. A favorable set of circumstances; an opportunity: a chance to escape. 5. A risk or hazard; a gamble: took a chance that the ice would hold me. 6. Games A raffle or lottery ticket. 7. Baseball An opportunity to make a putout or an assist that counts as an error if unsuccessful. adj. Caused by or ascribable to chance; unexpected, random, or casual: a chance encounter; a chance result. tr.v. chanced, chanc·ing, chanc·es 1. To take the risk or hazard of: We thought we could jump over the puddle, but we were not willing to chance it. 2. To have the fortune (to be or do something); happen: "My eye chanced to fall on the wizened houseplant on the windowsill" (Elisabeth Brink). 3. Used with the impersonal subject it and a following clause or infinitive to indicate the occurrence of a usually unexpected or chance event: "Now it chanced that this car-line was owned by gentlemen who were trying to make money" (Upton Sinclair).Phrasal Verb: chance on (or upon) To find or meet accidentally; happen upon: While in Paris we chanced on two old friends.Idioms: by chance 1. Without plan; accidentally: They met by chance on a plane. 2. Possibly; perchance: Is he, by chance, her brother? on the off chance In the slight hope or possibility. [Middle English, unexpected event, from Old French, from Vulgar Latin *cadentia, from Latin cadēns, cadent-, present participle of cadere, to fall, befall; see kad- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] Synonyms: chance, random, casual, haphazard, desultory These adjectives apply to what is determined not by deliberation but by happenstance. Chance stresses lack of intention or premeditation: a chance meeting with a friend. Random implies the absence of a specific pattern or objective: at the mercy of random events. Casual stresses the indiscriminate or unpredictable nature of chance events: "the casual mutation of one of your liver cells from normal to cancerous" (John Barth). Haphazard implies a carelessness or lack of control: "If unmarried significant others are invited to participate in the family support groups at all, it tends to be on a haphazard, informal basis" (Kristin Henderson). Desultory denotes a sporadic or aimless sequence of events: "I lay on a shared cot listening to desultory gunfire" (Jan Clausen). See Also Synonyms at happen, opportunity. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved. Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices: Indo-European Roots Semitic Roots The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots. American Heritage Dictionary Products The American Heritage Dictionary, 5th Edition The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms The American Heritage Roget's Thesaurus Curious George's Dictionary The American Heritage Children's Dictionary CONTACT US Customer Service Make Me An Author Ebooks Help with Glose Reader ABOUT US Company Profile Leadership Team Corporate Social Responsibility HarperCollins Careers HarperCollins Imprints HarperGreen Social Media Directory Accessibility FOR READERS Browse Reading Guides FOR AUTHORS Submit a Manuscript Report Piracy Agent Portal MEDIA Publicity Contacts Press Room SERVICES HarperCollins Speakers Bureau Library Services Academic Services Desk & Exam Copies Review Copies OpenBook API Marketing Partnerships COVID-19 RESOURCES & PERMISSIONS Permissions for Adult Online Readings Permissions for Kids Online Readings SALES & RIGHTS Booksellers & Retailer Ordering HarperCollins Catalogs Permissions Subsidiary Rights Media Rights and Content Development GLOSE APP iPhone Android GLOBAL DIVISIONS HarperCollins US HarperCollins Canada HarperCollins Christian HarperCollins Australia HarperCollins India HarperCollins UK Terms of Use • Terms of Sale • Your Ad Choices • Privacy Policy • California Privacy Policy Do Not Sell My Personal Information Copyright 2022 HarperCollins Publishers All rights reserved. *This website is best viewed in Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, or Safari. Some characters in pronunciations and etymologies cannot be displayed properly in Internet Explorer.