(possibilities)
Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English.
1.
If you say there is a ~ that something is the case or that something will happen, you mean that it might be the case or it might happen.
We were not in the least worried about the ~ that sweets could rot the teeth...
Tax on food has become a very real ~.
N-COUNT: oft N that
2.
A ~ is one of several different things that could be done.
The government now owns a lot of our land–one ~ would be to compensate us with other property...
There were several possibilities open to each manufacturer.
= option
N-COUNT