| Noun | 1. | chance - a possibility due to a favorable combination of circumstances; "the holiday gave us the opportunity to visit Washington"; "now is your chance" Synonyms: opportunity |
| 2. | chance - an unknown and unpredictable phenomenon that causes an event to result one way rather than another; "bad luck caused his downfall"; "we ran into each other by pure chance" | |
| 3. | chance - a risk involving danger; "you take a chance when you let her drive" | |
| 4. | chance - a measure of how likely it is that some event will occur; "what is the probability of rain?"; "we have a good chance of winning" Synonyms: probability | |
| Verb | 1. | chance - be the case by chance; "I chanced to meet my old friend in the street" |
| 2. | chance - take a risk in the hope of a favorable outcome; "When you buy these stocks you are gambling" | |
| 3. | chance - come upon, as if by accident; meet with; "We find this idea in Plato"; "I happened upon the most wonderful bakery not very far from here"; "She chanced upon an interesting book in the bookstore the other day" | |
| Adj. | 1. | chance - occurring or appearing or singled out by chance; "their accidental meeting led to a renewal of their friendship"; "seek help from casual passers-by"; "a casual meeting"; "a chance occurrence" Synonyms: accidental, casual |
CHANCE, accident. As the law punishes a crime only when there is an intention to commit it, it follows that when those acts are done in a lawful business or pursuit by mere chance or accident, which would have been criminal if there had been an intention, express or implied, to commit them, there is no crime. For example, if workmen were employed in blasting rocks in a retired field, and a person not knowing of the circumstance should enter the field, and be killed by a piece of the rock, there would be no guilt in the workmen. 1 East, P. C. 262 Poster, 262; 1 Hale's P. C. 472; 4 Bl. Com. 192. Vide Accident.
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