uncertainty; uncertainty principle, Heisenberg"s uncertainty principle.
drawing lots; sortilegy[obs3], sort.i.tion; sortes[obs3], sortes Virgilianae[obs3]; rouge et noir[Fr], hazard, ante, chuck-a-luck, crack-loo [obs3][U.S.], c.r.a.ps, faro, roulette, pitch and toss, chuck, farthing, cup tossing, heads or tails cross and pile, poker-dice; wager; bet, betting; gambling; the turf.
gaming house, gambling house, betting house; bucket shop; gambling joint; totalizator, totalizer; h.e.l.l; betting ring; dice, dice box.
[person who takes chances] gambler, gamester; man of the turf; adventurer; dicer!.
V. chance &c. (hap) 156; stand a chance &c. (be possible) 470.
toss up; cast lots, draw lots; leave to chance, trust to chance, leave to the chapter of accidents, trust to the chapter of accidents; tempt fortune; chance it, take one"s chance, take a shot at it (attempt) 675; run the risk, run the chance, incur the risk, incur the chance, encounter the risk, encounter the chance; stand the hazard of the die.
speculate, try one"s luck, set on a cast, raffle, put into a lottery, buy a pig in a poke, shuffle the cards.
risk, venture, hazard, stake; ante; lay, lay a wager; make a bet, wager, bet, gamble, game, play for; play at chuck farthing.
Adj. fortuitous &c. 156; unintentional, unintended; accidental; not meant; undesigned, purposed; unpremeditated &c. 612; unforeseen, uncontemplated, never thought of.
random, indiscriminate, promiscuous; undirected; aimless, driftless[obs3], designless[obs3], purposeless, causeless; without purpose.
possible &c. 470.
unforeseeable, unpredictable, chancy, risky, speculative, dicey.
Adv. randomly, by chance, fortuitously; unpredictably, unforeseeably; casually &c. 156; unintentionally &c. adj.; unwittingly.
en pa.s.sant[Fr], by the way, incidentally; as it may happen; at random, at a venture, at haphazard.
Phr. acierta errando[Lat]; dextro tempore[Lat]; "fearful concatenation of circ.u.mstances" [D. Webster]; "fortuitous combination of circ.u.mstances"
[d.i.c.kens]; le jeu est le fils d"avarice et le pere du desespoir[Fr]; "the happy combination of fortuitous circ.u.mstances" [Scott]; "the fortuitous or casual concourse of atoms" [Bentley]; "G.o.d does not play dice with the universe" [A. Einstein].
#622. [Purpose in action.] Pursuit -- N. pursuit; pursuing &c. v.; prosecution; pursuance; enterprise &c. (undertaking) 676; business &c. 625; adventure &c. (essay) 675; quest &c. (search) 461; scramble, hue and cry, game; hobby; still-hunt.
chase, hunt, battue[obs3], race, steeple chase, hunting, coursing; venation, venery; fox chase; sport, sporting; shooting, angling, fishing, hawking; shikar[Geogloc:India].
pursuer; hunter, huntsman; shikari[Geogloc:India], sportsman, Nimrod; hound &c. 366.
V. pursue, prosecute, follow; run after, make after, be after, hunt after, prowl after; shadow; carry on &c. (do) 680; engage in &c.
(undertake) 676; set about &c. (begin) 66; endeavor &c. 675; court &c.
(request) 765 seek &c. (search) 461; aim at &c. (intention) 620; follow the trail &c. (trace) 461; fish for &c. (experiment) 463; press on &c. (haste) 684; run a race &c. (velocity) 274.
chase, give chase, course, dog, hunt, hound; tread on the heels, follow on the heels of, &c. (sequence) 281.
rush upon; rush headlong &c. (violence) 173 ride full tilt at, run full tilt at; make a leap at, jump at, s.n.a.t.c.h at run down; start game.
tread a path; take a course, hold- a course; shape one"s steps, direct one"s steps, bend one"s steps, course; play a game; fight one"s way, elbow one"s way; follow up; take to, take up; go in for; ride one"s hobby.
Adj. pursuing &c. v.; in quest of &c. (inquiry) 461 in pursuit, in full cry, in hot pursuit; on the scent.
Adv. in pursuance of &c. (intention) 620; after.
Int. tallyho! yoicks! soho[obs3]!
#623. [Absence of pursuit.] Avoidance. -- N. abstention, abstinence; for bearance[obs3]; refraining &c. v.; inaction &c. 681; neutrality.
avoidance, evasion, elusion; seclusion &c. 893.
avolation, flight; escape &c. 671; retreat &c. 287; recoil &c. 277; departure &c. 293; rejection &c. 610.
shirker &c. v.; truant; fugitive, refugee; runaway, runagate; maroon.
V. abstain, refrain, spare, not attempt; not do &c. 681; maintain the even tenor of one"s way.
eschew, keep from, let alone, have nothing to do with; keep aloof keep off, stand aloof, stand off, hold aloof, hold off; take no part in, have no hand in.
avoid, shun; steer clear of, keep clear of; fight shy of; keep one"s distance, keep at a respectful distance; keep out of the way, get out of the way; evade, elude, turn away from; set one"s face against &c. (oppose) 708; deny oneself.
shrink back; hang back, hold back, draw back; recoil &c. 277; retire &c. (recede) 287; flinch, blink, blench, shy, shirk, dodge, parry, make way for, give place to.
beat a retreat; turn tail, turn one"s back; take to one"s heels; runaway, run for one"s life; cut and run; be off like a shot; fly, flee; fly away, flee away, run away from; take flight, take to flight; desert, elope; make off, scamper off, sneak off, shuffle off, sheer off; break away, tear oneself away, slip away, slink away, steel away, make away from, scamper away from, sneak away from, shuffle away from, sheer away from; slip cable, part company, turn one"s heel; sneak out of, play truant, give one the go by, give leg bail, take French leave, slope, decamp, flit, bolt, abscond, levant, skedaddle, absquatulate [obs3][U.S.], cut one"s stick, walk one"s chalks, show a light pair of heels, make oneself scarce; escape &c. 671; go away &c. (depart) 293; abandon &c. 624; reject &c. 610.
lead one a dance, lead one a pretty dance; throw off the scent, play at hide and seek.
Adj. unsought, unattempted; avoiding &c. v.; neutral, shy of &c.
(unwilling) 603; elusive, evasive; fugitive, runaway; shy, wild.
Adj. lest, in order to avoid.
Int. forbear! keep off, hands off! sauve qui peut[Fr]! [French: every man for himself]; devil take the hindmost!
Phr. "things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme" [Paradise Lost].
#624. Relinquishment. -- N. relinquishment, abandonment; desertion, defection, secession, withdrawal; cave of Adullam[obs3]; nolle prosequi[Lat].
discontinuance &c. (cessation) 142; renunciation &c. (recantation) 607; abrogation &c. 756; resignation &c. (retirement) 757; desuetude &c.
614; cession &c. (of property) 782.
V. relinquish, give up, abandon, desert, forsake, leave in the lurch; go back on; depart from, secede from, withdraw from; back out of; leave, quit, take leave of, bid a long farewell; vacate &c. (resign) 757.
renounce &c (abjure) 607; forego, have done with, drop; disuse &c.
678; discard &c. 782; wash one"s hands of; drop all idea of.
break off, leave off; desist; stop &c. (cease) 142; hold one"s hand, stay one"s hand; quit one"s hold; give over, shut up shop.
throw up the game, throw up the cards; give up the point, give up the argument; pa.s.s to the order of the day, move to the previous question.
Adj. unpursued[obs3]; relinquished &c. v.; relinquishing &c. v.
Int. avast! &c. (stop) 142.
Phr. aufgeschoben ist nicht aufgehoben[Ger]; entbehre gern was du nicht hast[Ger].
#625. Business. -- N. business, occupation, employment; pursuit &c.
622; what one is doing, what one is about; affair, concern, matter, case.
matter in hand, irons in the fire; thing to do, agendum, task, work, job, ch.o.r.e [U.S.], errand, commission, mission, charge, care; duty &c. 926.
part, role, cue; province, function, lookout, department, capacity, sphere, orb, field, line; walk, walk of life; beat, round, routine; race, career.
office, place, post, chargeship[obs3], inc.u.mbency, living; situation, berth, employ; service &c. (servitude) 749; engagement; undertaking &c.
676.
vocation, calling, profession, cloth, faculty; industry, art; industrial arts; craft, mystery, handicraft; trade &c. (commerce) 794.
exercise; work &c. (action) 680; avocation; press of business &c.
(activity) 682.
V. pa.s.s one"s time in, employ one"s time in, spend one"s time in; employ oneself in, employ oneself upon; occupy oneself with, concern oneself with; make it one"s business &c. n.; undertake &c. 676; enter a profession; betake oneself to, turn one"s hand to; have to do with &c. (do) 680.
office, place, post, chargeship[obs3], inc.u.mbency, living; situation, berth, employ; service &c. (servitude) 749; engagement; undertaking &c.
676.
drive a trade; carry on a trade, do a trade, transact a trade, carry on business, do business, transact business &c. n.; keep a shop; ply one"s task, ply one"s trade; labor in one"s vocation; pursue the even tenor of one"s way; attend to business, attend to one"s work.
officiate, serve, act; act one"s part, play one"s part; do duty; serve the office of, discharge the office of, perform the office of, perform the duties of, perform the functions of; hold an office, fill an office, fill a place, fill a situation; hold a portfolio, hold a place, hold a situation.
be about, be doing, be engaged in, be employed in, be occupied with, be at work on; have one"s hands in, have in hand; have on one"s hands, have on one"s shoulders; bear the burden; have one"s hands full &c. (activity) 682.
be in the hands of, be on the stocks, be on the anvil; pa.s.s through one"s hands.
Adj. businesslike; workaday; professional; official, functional; busy &c. (actively employed) 682; on hand, in hand, in one"s hands; afoot; on foot, on the anvil; going on; acting.
Adv. in the course of business, all in one"s day"s work; professionally &c. Adj.
Phr. "a business with an income at its heels" [Cowper]; amoto quaeramus seria ludo [Lat][Horace]; par negotiis neque supra [Lat][Tacitus].
#626. Plan. -- N. plan, scheme, design, project; proposal, proposition, suggestion; resolution, motion; precaution &c. (provision) 673; deep-laid plan &c. (premeditated) 611; system &c. (order) 58; organization &c. (arrangement) 60; germ &c.
(cause) 153.
sketch, skeleton, outline, draught, draft, ebauche[Fr], brouillon[Fr]; rough cast, rough draft, draught copy; copy; proof, revise.
drawing, scheme, schematic, graphic, chart, flow chart (representation) 554.
forecast, program(me), prospectus; carte du pays[Fr]; card; bill, protocol; order of the day, list of agenda; bill of fare &c. (food) 298; base of operations; platform, plank, slate [U. S.], ticket [U. S.].
role; policy &c. (line of conduct) 692.
contrivance, invention, expedient, receipt, nostrum, artifice, device; pipelaying [U. S.]; stratagem &c. (cunning) 702; trick &c. (deception) 545; alternative, loophole; shift &c. (subst.i.tute) 147; last shift &c.
(necessity) 601.
measure, step; stroke, stroke of policy; master stroke; trump card, court card; cheval de bataille[Fr], great gun; coup, coup d"etat[Fr]; clever stroke, bold stroke, good move, good hit, good stroke; bright thought, bright idea.
intrigue, cabal, plot, conspiracy, complot[obs3], machination; subplot, underplot[obs3], counterplot.
schemer, schemist[obs3], schematist; strategist, machinator; projector, artist, promoter, designer &c. v.; conspirator; intrigant &c.
(cunning) 702[obs3].
V. plan,,scheme, design, frame, contrive, project, forecast, sketch; devise, invent &c. (imagine) 515; set one"s wits to work &c. 515; spring a project; fall upon, hit upon; strike out, chalk out, cut out, lay out, map out; lay down a plan; shape out a course, mark out a course; predetermine &c. 611; concert, preconcert, preestablish; prepare &c. 673; hatch, hatch a plot concoct; take steps, take measures.
cast, recast, systematize, organize; arrange &c. 60; digest, mature.
plot; counter-plot, counter-mine; dig a mine; lay a train; intrigue &c. (cunning) 702.
Adj. planned &c. v.; strategic, strategical; planning &c. v.; prepared, in course of preparation &c. 673; under consideration; on the tapis[obs3], on the carpet, on the floor.