by chance
Word Rarity
Common
Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.24 in modern English
20
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
1
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
prep_phrase
Unexpectedly, accidentally; without foreplanning.
Example Sentences
- "I stumbled across the exit by chance."
- "[...] Yojo had told him two or three times over, and strongly insisted upon it everyway, that instead of our going together among the whaling-fleet in harbor, and in concert selecting our craft; instead of this, I say, Yojo earnestly enjoined that the selection of the ship should rest wholly with me, inasmuch as Yojo purposed befriending us; and, in order to do so, had already pitched upon a vessel, which, if left to myself, I, Ishmael, should infallibly light upon, for all the world as though it had turned out by chance; and in that vessel I must immediately ship myself, for the present irrespective of Queequeg."
- "Are you by chance looking for the exit?"
- "If by chance you notice the fine, almost sweet maltiness of the aroma, and the brisk, dry, mineral quality of the flavors, even better."