verb
find unexpectedly
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the archeologists chanced upon an old tomb
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she struck a goldmine
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The hikers finally struck the main path to the lake
• Syn:
↑fall upon, ↑strike, ↑come upon, ↑light upon, ↑come across, ↑chance on, ↑happen upon, ↑attain, ↑discover
• Verb Frames:
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Somebody ——s something
* * *
chance upon
● chance
* * *
ˈchance on ˈchance upon [transitive] [present tense I/you/we/they chance on he/she/it chances on present participle chancing on past tense chanced on past participle chanced on] mainly literary phrasal verb
to find or see someone or something when you did not expect to
I was browsing in a bookshop when I chanced upon an old friend.
Thesaurus: to find something or someonesynonym
Main entry: chance
* * *
chance upon (also chance on) [phrasal verb]
She chanced upon an original copy of the book in her grandfather's attic.
We chanced upon a good restaurant.
• • •
Main Entry: ↑chance
Useful english dictionary. 2012.