chance upon

idiom

variants or less commonly chance on

formal

: to find (something) or meet (someone) by chance

She chanced upon an original copy of the book in her grandfather's attic.

I chanced on an article in the paper about that just the other day.

I was shopping in a rare book store when I chanced on a friend I had not seen in years.

Examples of chance upon in a Sentence

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This moth group includes the largest species in North America and are ever-popular with the lucky people that chance upon them because of their beautiful wing patterns, fuzzy faces, and enormous caterpillars. —

Miri Talabac, Baltimore Sun, 6 Apr. 2023 Most deadheads have small to medium-size racks, but each year a few people chance upon a monster. —

Michael Hanback, Outdoor Life, 24 Jan. 2023 The ping-pong-ball-size frogs, which are native to a mountainous strip in northern Colombia, spend most of their days milling about the region’s burbling brooks, hoping to chance upon a mate. —

Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 14 Mar. 2022 One approach is founded on the hope that perhaps astronomers will get lucky and chance upon an alien radio broadcast. —

Stephon Alexander, Wired, 31 Aug. 2021 This is overwhelmingly true for Hindus who comprise a majority of Indians and may therefore chance upon more fellow Hindus. —

Ananya Bhattacharya, Quartz, 29 June 2021 The Bavarians created chance upon chance and would finish the game with an xG of 4-1. —

Manuel Veth, Forbes, 7 Apr. 2021 The unfortunate bear in question happened to chance upon 40 containers of cocaine and died of an overdose. —

Ej Dickson, Rolling Stone, 10 Mar. 2021