chances
plural of “chance” — a possibility due to a favorable combination of circumstances
An inflected form of chance · plural.
How often you will meet it
Rank 2,878 of 86,757 words measured. It occurs 46,007 times across 426,181 published chapters — 0.003% of every word in the library.
What it means
noun
- a possibility due to a favorable combination of circumstances also: opportunity the holiday gave us the opportunity to visit Washingtonnow is your chance
- an unknown and unpredictable phenomenon that causes an event to result one way rather than another also: luck, fortune, hazard bad luck caused his downfallwe ran into each other by pure chance
- a risk involving danger you take a chance when you let her drive
- a measure of how likely it is that some event will occur; a number expressing the ratio of favorable cases to the whole number of cases possible also: probability the probability that an unbiased coin will fall with the head up is 0.5if that phone call is for me, chances are it's my wife
- the possibility of future success also: prospect his prospects as a writer are excellent
chances in real books
Each sentence below was written by a published author and is taken from a different book in our library. Open one to read the passage it came from, with narration.
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I give them far better chances than they can get anywhere else.
The Honey-Pot · Countess (Hélène) Barcynska · Chapter 3
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Perhaps I did; one can't remember every thing one chances to say.
The Inner Sisterhood · Douglass Sherley · Chapter 1
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He may well add up his investments every day, it he can afford to chuck such chances.
In Luck at Last · Walter Besant · Chapter 1
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The tall boy hated Joe greatly, and was watching his chances to “get square,” as he termed it.
The rival bicyclists · Edward Stratemeyer · Chapter 1
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To this Mabel agreed, but the chances were few and far between, and they began to think theirs an impossible quest.
Mabel's mishap · Amy Ella Blanchard · Chapter 3