Possible vs Chance - What's the difference?
possible | chance |
(usually, not comparable) Able but not certain to happen; neither inevitable nor impossible.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=8
, passage=The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again;
(comparable) Capable of being done or achieved; feasible.
* {{quote-book, 1901, Louis Freeland Smith, The Public, volume=4, page=438, pageurl=http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=inu.30000080738168&page=search;seq=444;view=image;num=438
, passage=And success in minor degree, in the sense in which he uses the term "success," is only somewhat more possible than success in winning the White House chair.}}
* {{quote-news, 1993, September 10, Lee Michael Katz, Expectant Mideast hopes to bear twin peace deals, USA Today, page=2A
, passage=Peace between Israel and the Arab countries is "more possible than any time before," says ex-Arab League U.N. ambassador Clovis Maskoud. }}
* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=72-3, magazine=(The Economist)
, title= Being considered, e.g. for a position.
A possible one
(colloquial, rare) A possible choice, notably someone being considered for a position.
(rare) A particular event that may happen.
(countable) An opportunity or possibility.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=2
, passage=Here was my chance . I took the old man aside, and two or three glasses of Old Crow launched him into reminiscence.}}
(uncountable) Random occurrence; luck.
(countable) The probability of something happening.
(archaic) To happen by chance, to occur.
* Bible, Deuteronomy xxii. 6
* Shakespeare
* 1843 , (Thomas Carlyle), '', book 2, ch. XV, ''Practical — Devotional
* 1847 , , (Jane Eyre), Chapter XVIII
(archaic) To befall; to happen to.
* 1826 , William Lambarde, A Perambulation of Kent
To try or risk.
* W. D. Howells
To discover something by chance.
(rare) Happening]] by [[#Noun, chance, casual.
* 1859 , (Charles Dickens), (A Tale of Two Cities)'', ch. VI, ''The Shoe Maker (Heron Book Centenial Edition)
As an adjective possible
is (usually|not comparable) able but not certain to happen; neither inevitable nor impossible.As a noun possible
is a possible one.As a proper noun chance is
, an american pet form of chauncey, in modern usage also associated with the word chance.possible
English
Adjective
(en-adj)citation
A punch in the gut, passage=Mostly, the microbiome is beneficial. It helps with digestion and enables people to extract a lot more calories from their food than would otherwise be possible . Research over the past few years, however, has implicated it in diseases from atherosclerosis to asthma to autism.}}
Derived terms
* as much as possible * ASAP (as soon as possible) * possiblyAntonyms
* (able but not certain to happen) certain, inevitable, impossible * (capable of being done) impossibleNoun
(en noun)- Jones is a possible for the new opening in sales.
Synonyms
* possibility * optionAntonyms
* impossible * no-goStatistics
*External links
* *Anagrams
* 1000 English basic words ----chance
English
Alternative forms
* chaunce (obsolete)Noun
(en noun)Derived terms
(Terms derived from the noun "chance") * Buckley's chance * by chance * chance'd be a fine thing * chance fracture * chance-medley * chancer * chances are * chancy * Chinaman's chance * dog's chance * even chance * fair chance * fat chance * fighting chance * first-chance exception * game of chance * half a chance * happy chance * in with a chance * jump at the chance * last chance * last chance saloon * main chance * mum chance * not a chance * off chance/off-chance * outside chance * perchance * slim chance * smart chance * snowball's chance * snowball's chance in hell * sporting chance * stand a chanceVerb
(chanc)- It chanced that I found a solution the very next day.
- if a bird's nest chance to be before thee
- I chanced on this letter.
- Once it chanced that Geoffrey Riddell (Bishop of Ely), a Prelate rather troublesome to (w), made a request of him for timber from his woods towards certain edifices going on at (Glemsford).
- Mr. Mason, shivering as some one chanced to open the door, asked for more coal to be put on the fire, which had burnt out its flame, though its mass of cinder still shone hot and red. The footman who brought the coal, in going out, stopped near Mr. Eshton's chair, and said something to him in a low voice, of which I heard only the words, "old woman,"—"quite troublesome."
- Shall we carry the umbrella, or chance a rainstorm?
- Come what will, I will chance it.
- He chanced upon a kindly stranger who showed him the way.
Derived terms
* (l) * * (l)Adjective
(en adjective)- No crowd was about the door; no people were discernible at any of the many windows; not even a chance passer-by was in the street. An unnatural silence and desertion reigned there.