CHANCE


Meaning of CHANCE in English

(~s, chancing, ~d)

Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English.

1.

If there is a ~ of something happening, it is possible that it will happen.

Do you think they have a ~ of beating Australia?...

This partnership has a good ~ of success...

The specialist who carried out the brain scan thought Tim’s ~s of survival were still slim...

There was really very little ~ that Ben would ever have led a normal life.

N-VAR: oft N of -ing/n, N that

2.

If you have a ~ to do something, you have the opportunity to do it.

The electoral council announced that all eligible people would get a ~ to vote...

I felt I had to give him a ~.

N-COUNT: usu N to-inf, N for n to-inf

3.

A ~ meeting or event is one that is not planned or expected.

...a ~ meeting.

ADJ: ADJ n

Chance is also a noun.

...a victim of ~ and circumstance.

N-UNCOUNT

4.

If you ~ to do something or ~ on something, you do it or find it although you had not planned or tried to. (FORMAL)

It was just then that I ~d to look round.

...Christopher Columbus, who ~d upon the Dominican Republic nearly 500 years ago.

VERB: V to-inf, V upon/on/across n

5.

If you ~ something, you do it even though there is a risk that you may not succeed or that something bad may happen.

Andy knew the risks. I cannot believe he would have ~d it...

He decided no assassin would ~ a shot from amongst that crowd.

= risk

VERB: V it , V n

6.

see also off-~

7.

Something that happens by ~ was not planned by anyone.

He had met Mr Maude by ~.

PHRASE: PHR after v, PHR with cl

8.

You can use by any ~ when you are asking questions in order to find out whether something that you think might be true is actually true.

Are they by any ~ related?

= perhaps

PHRASE: PHR with cl (not first in cl)

9.

If you say that someone stands a ~ of achieving something, you mean that they are likely to achieve it. If you say that someone doesn’t stand a ~ of achieving something, you mean that they cannot possibly achieve it.

Being very good at science subjects, I stood a good ~ of gaining high grades...

Neither is seen as standing any ~ of snatching the leadership from him.

PHRASE: V inflects, usu PHR of -ing

10.

When you take a ~, you try to do something although there is a large risk of danger or failure.

You take a ~ on the weather if you holiday in the UK...

From then on, they were taking no ~s...

PHRASE: V and N inflect

Collins COBUILD.      Толковый словарь английского языка для изучающих язык Коллинз COBUILD (международная база данных языков Бирмингемского университета) .