'by chance' definitions:
Definition of 'by chance'
(from WordNet)
adverb
Through chance, "To sleep, perchance to dream.." [syn: perchance, by chance]
adverb
adverb
Without advance planning; "they met accidentally" [syn: by chance, accidentally, circumstantially, unexpectedly] [ant: advisedly, by choice, by design, deliberately, designedly, intentionally, on purpose, purposely]
Definition of 'by chance'
From: GCIDE
- May \May\ (m[=a]), v. [imp. Might (m[imac]t)] [AS. pres. maeg I am able, pret. meahte, mihte; akin to D. mogen, G. m["o]gen, OHG. mugan, magan, Icel. mega, Goth. magan, Russ. moche. [root]103. Cf. Dismay, Main strength, Might. The old imp. mought is obsolete, except as a provincial word.] An auxiliary verb qualifying the meaning of another verb, by expressing: (a) Ability, competency, or possibility; -- now oftener expressed by can. [1913 Webster]
- How may a man, said he, with idle speech, Be won to spoil the castle of his health! --Spenser. [1913 Webster]
- For what he [the king] may do is of two kinds; what he may do as just, and what he may do as possible. --Bacon. [1913 Webster]
- For of all sad words of tongue or pen The saddest are these: "It might have been." --Whittier. [1913 Webster] (b) Liberty; permission; allowance. [1913 Webster]
- Thou mayst be no longer steward. --Luke xvi. 2. [1913 Webster] (c) Contingency or liability; possibility or probability. [1913 Webster]
- Though what he learns he speaks, and may advance Some general maxims, or be right by chance. --Pope. [1913 Webster] (d) Modesty, courtesy, or concession, or a desire to soften a question or remark. [1913 Webster]
- How old may Phillis be, you ask. --Prior. [1913 Webster] (e) Desire or wish, as in prayer, imprecation, benediction, and the like. "May you live happily." --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
- May be, & It may be, are used as equivalent to possibly, perhaps, maybe, by chance, peradventure. See 1st Maybe. [1913 Webster]
Synonyms of 'by chance'
From: Moby Thesaurus
- accidentally,
- as it chanced,
- at haphazard,
- at intervals,
- at random,
- by a fluke,
- by accident,
- by fits,
- by good fortune,
- by hazard,
- by snatches,
- capriciously,
- carelessly,
- casually,
- desultorily,
- erratically,
- fitfully,
- for some reason,
- fortuitously,
- haphazardly,
- hit or miss,
- in snatches,
- in some way,
- in spots,
- incidentally,
- indiscriminately,
- irregularly,
- perchance,
- promiscuously,
- randomly,
- sloppily,
- somehow,
- somehow or other,
- spasmodically,
- sporadically,
- unmethodically,
- unpredictably,
- unsystematically
Words containing 'by chance'
- Chance,
- Chanced,
- Chanceful,
- Chancing,
- chance on,
- no chance,
- off chance,
- A fighting chance,
- Chance comer,
- Chance of survivorship,
- Chance, MD,
- Doctrine of chances,
- Main chance,
- The last chance,
- The main chance,
- Theory of chances,
- chance event,
- chance upon,
- chance variable,
- even chance,
- fair chance,
- fat chance,
- game of chance,
- good chance,
- happy chance,
- outside chance,
- slim chance,
- small chance,
- sporting chance,
- take a chance,
- take chances,
- Chance-medley,
- Mum-chance,
- To mind one's chances,
- a snowball's chance in hell,
- chance-half correlation