Definition "chance" in Collins English Dictionary & Thesaurus

chance (chances plural & 3rd person present) (chancing present participle) (chanced past tense & past participle )

1 n-var If there is a chance of something happening, it is possible that it will happen.
Do you think they have a chance of beating Australia?...

2 n-count If you have a chance to do something, you have the opportunity to do it.
The electoral council announced that all eligible people would get a chance to vote...

3  adj A chance meeting or event is one that is not planned or expected.
...a chance meeting.
  Chance is also a noun., n-uncount

4 verb If you chance to do something or chance on something, you do it or find it although you had not planned or tried to.
FORMAL It was just then that I chanced to look round. V to-inf

5 verb If you chance something, you do it even though there is a risk that you may not succeed or that something bad may happen. (=risk)
Andy knew the risks. I cannot believe he would have chanced it... V it

6
→ off-chance

7 Something that happens by chance was not planned by anyone.
♦ by chance phrase
He had met Mr Maude by chance.

8 You can use by any chance when you are asking questions in order to find out whether something that you think might be true is actually true.
♦ by any chance phrase (=perhaps)
Are they by any chance related?

9 If you say that someone stands a chance of achieving something, you mean that they are likely to achieve it. If you say that someone doesn't stand a chance of achieving something, you mean that they cannot possibly achieve it.
♦ stand a chance phrase
Being very good at science subjects, I stood a good chance of gaining high grades...

10 When you take a chance, you try to do something although there is a large risk of danger or failure.
♦ take a chance phrase
You take a chance on the weather if you holiday in the UK...