chance
verb/tʃɑːns/
/tʃæns/
Verb Forms
Idioms Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they chance | /tʃɑːns/ /tʃæns/ |
| he / she / it chances | /ˈtʃɑːnsɪz/ /ˈtʃænsɪz/ |
| past simple chanced | /tʃɑːnst/ /tʃænst/ |
| past participle chanced | /tʃɑːnst/ /tʃænst/ |
| -ing form chancing | /ˈtʃɑːnsɪŋ/ /ˈtʃænsɪŋ/ |
- [transitive] (informal) to risk something, although you know the result may not be successful
- chance something She was chancing her luck driving without a licence.
- ‘Take an umbrella.’ ‘No, I'll chance it (= take the risk that it may rain).’
- chance doing something I stayed hidden; I couldn't chance coming out.
- linking verb (formal) to happen or to do something by chance
- chance to do something If I do chance to find out where she is, I'll inform you immediately.
- They chanced to be staying at the same hotel.
- it chanced (that)… It chanced (that) they were staying at the same hotel.
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old French cheance, from cheoir ‘fall, befall’, based on Latin cadere.
Idioms
See chance in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionarychance your arm
- (British English, informal) to take a risk although you will probably failTopics Difficulty and failurec2
Check pronunciation:
chance