chance
adj : occurring or appearing or singled out by chance; "their
accidental meeting led to a renewal of their
friendship"; "seek help from casual passers-by"; "a
casual meeting"; "a chance occurrence" [syn: {accidental},
{casual}, {chance(a)}]
n 1: a possibility due to a favorable combination of
circumstances; "the holiday gave us the opportunity to
visit Washington"; "now is your chance" [syn: {opportunity}]
2: an unknown and unpredictable phenomenon that causes an event
to result one way rather than another; "bad luck caused
his downfall"; "it was a chance meeting" [syn: {luck}, {fortune},
{hazard}]
3: a risk involving danger; "you take a chance when you let her
drive"
4: a measure of how likely it is that some event will occur;
"what is the probability of rain?"; "we have a good chance
of winning" [syn: {probability}]
v 1: be the case by chance; "I chanced to meet my old friend in
the street"
2: take a risk in the hope of a favorable outcome; "When you
buy these stocks you are gambling" [syn: {gamble}, {risk},
{hazard}, {take chances}, {adventure}, {run a risk}, {take
a chance}]
3: come upon, as if by accident; meet with; "We find this idea
in Plato"; "I happened upon the most wonderful bakery not
very far from here"; "She chanced upon an interesting book
in the bookstore the other day" [syn: {find}, {happen}, {hit},
{bump}, {encounter}]