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Random vs Ransom - What's the difference?

random | ransom |

As nouns the difference between random and ransom

is that random is a roving motion; course without definite direction; lack of rule or method; chance while ransom is money paid for the freeing of a hostage.

As an adjective random

is having unpredictable outcomes and, in the ideal case, all outcomes equally probable; resulting from such selection; lacking statistical correlation.

As a verb ransom is

to deliver, especially in context of sin or relevant penalties.

random

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A roving motion; course without definite direction; lack of rule or method; chance.
  • * (1591-1674)
  • *:Counsels, when they fly / At random , sometimes hit most happily.
  • *Sir (Walter Scott) (1771-1832)
  • *:O, many a shaft, at random sent, / Finds mark the archer little meant!
  • (label) Speed, full speed; impetuosity, force.
  • *:
  • *:they were messagers vnto kyng Ban & Bors sent from kynge Arthur / therfor said the viij knyghtes ye shalle dye or be prysoners / for we ben knyghtes of kyng Claudas And therwith two of them dressid theire sperys / and Vlfyus and Brastias dressid theire speres and ranne to gyder with grete raundon
  • *(Edward Hall) (1497-1547)
  • *:For courageously the two kings newly fought with great random and force.
  • *1624 , John Smith, Generall Historie , in Kupperman 1988, page 144:
  • *:Fortie yards will they shoot levell, or very neare the marke, and 120 is their best at Random .
  • :
  • :
  • (label) The direction of a rake-vein.
  • :(Raymond)

    • Synonyms

    * force, momentum, speed, velocity * (unimportant person) nobody, nonentity

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Having unpredictable outcomes and, in the ideal case, all outcomes equally probable; resulting from such selection; lacking statistical correlation.
    • The flip of a fair coin is purely random .
    The newspaper conducted a random sample of five hundred American teenagers.
    The results of the field survey look random by several different measures.
  • * July 18 2012 , Scott Tobias, AV Club The Dark Knight Rises [http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-dark-knight-rises-review-batman,82624/]
    • Where the Joker preys on our fears of random , irrational acts of terror, Bane has an all-consuming, dictatorial agenda that’s more stable and permanent, a New World Order that’s been planned out with the precision of a military coup.
  • (mathematics) Of or relating to probability distribution.
    • A toss of loaded dice is still random , though biased.
  • (computing) Pseudorandom; mimicking the result of random selection.
    • The rand function generates a random number from a seed.
  • (somewhat colloquial) Representative and undistinguished; typical and average; selected for no particular reason.
    • A random American off the street couldn't tell the difference.
  • (somewhat colloquial) Apropos of nothing; lacking context; unexpected; having apparent lack of plan, cause or reason.
    • That was a completely random comment.
    The teacher's bartending story was interesting, but random .
    The narrative takes a random course.
  • (colloquial) Characterized by or often saying random things; habitually using non sequiturs.
    • You're so random !

    Synonyms

    * (having unpredictable outcomes) * (of or relating to probability distribution) stochastic * (pseudorandom) pseudorandom * (representative and undistinguished) average, typical * (lacking context) arbitrary, unexpected, unplanned

    Derived terms

    * at random * non-random * pseudorandom * randomer * randomise, randomize * randomness * random number * randomly * randomology * randomosity

    See also

    * (Randomness)

    Anagrams

    *

    ransom

    English

    (wikipedia ransom)

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • Money paid for the freeing of a hostage.
    • They were held for two million dollars ransom .
    They were held to ransom .
  • * 1674 , , Paradise Lost , Book XII:
    • Thy ransom paid, which man from death redeems.
  • * Sir J. Davies
    • His captivity in Austria, and the heavy ransom he paid for his liberty.
  • * 2010 , Caroline Alexander, The War That Killed Achilles: The True Story of Homer's Iliad :
    • As rich as was the ransom Priam paid for Hektor, Hermes says, his remaining sons at Troy “'would give three times as much ransom / for you, who are alive, were Atreus' son Agamemnon / to recognize you.'”
  • The release of a captive, or of captured property, by payment of a consideration.
    • prisoners hopeless of ransom
    (Dryden)
  • (historical, legal, UK) A sum paid for the pardon of some great offence and the discharge of the offender; also, a fine paid in lieu of corporal punishment.
    • (Blackstone)

    Usage notes

    * (term) is much more common in the US, (to) in the UK.

    Derived terms

    * king's ransom

    Verb

  • To deliver, especially in context of sin or relevant penalties.
  • To pay a price to set someone free from captivity or punishment.
    • to ransom prisoners from an enemy
  • To exact a ransom for, or a payment on.
    • Such lands as he had rule of he ransomed them so grievously, and would tax the men two or three times in a year. — Berners.

    See also

    * bail

    References

    Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary: Tenth Edition 1997

    Anagrams

    * * * * *