random
IPA: rˈændʌm
noun
- A roving motion; course without definite direction; lack of rule or method; chance.
- (obsolete) Speed, full speed; impetuosity, force.
- 1548, Edward Hall, “The triumphant reigne of Kyng Henry the VIII”, in The Union of the two noble and Illustre Famelies of Lancastre and Yorke (Hall’s Chronicle), page 82v:
- (obsolete) The full range of a bullet or other projectile; hence, the angle at which a weapon is tilted to allow the greatest range.
- (figuratively, colloquial) An undefined, unknown or unimportant person; a person of no consequence.
- (mining) The direction of a rake-vein.
- (printing, historical) A frame for composing type.
adjective
- Having unpredictable outcomes and, in the ideal case, all outcomes equally probable; resulting from such selection; lacking statistical correlation.
- (mathematics) Of or relating to probability distribution.
- (computing) Pseudorandom; mimicking the result of random selection.
- (somewhat colloquial) Representative and undistinguished; typical and average; selected for no particular reason.
- (somewhat colloquial) Apropos of nothing; lacking context; unexpected; having apparent lack of plan, cause, or reason.
- (colloquial) Characterized by or often saying random things; habitually using non sequiturs.
- (UK, slang) Being out of the ordinary; unusual or unexpected; odd, strange, bizarre.
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Examples of "random" in Sentences
- I permute the balls at random.
- The password has been randomized.
- The only random thing is the weapons.
- There is a random person on the street.
- The film examines the randomness of life.
- Certain elements of the game are randomized.
- The system randomized the aircraft behavior.
- In juxtaposition to the grid they appear random.
- ( "UPDATE login SET random = $random WHERE id = $id"
- And the only choice other than random is *not random*.
- Just hanging out and what we call random hallway parties.
- A random sampling of the citations does not evince such rigor.
- This page allows you to randomize lists of strings using true randomness.
- "Mortgage rates follow what we call a random walk, and don't bounce back from lows like most people assume," he says.
- SARAH TEALE, FILMMAKER, "DEALING DOGS": A class-B dealer is someone who deals with what they call random-source dogs.
- He said the sector remains too focused on charity -- what I call random acts of kindness -- rather than strategic investments.
- It was not that his spirits were visibly high — he would never, in the concert of pleasure, touch the big drum by so much as a knuckle: he had a mortal dislike to the high, ragged note, to what he called random ravings.
- It was not that his spirits were visibly high -- he would never, in the concert of pleasure, touch the big drum by so much as a knuckle: he had a mortal dislike to the high, ragged note, to what he called random ravings.
- But, she argues, we can still hold the former group, i.e., that which she calls a random collection of individuals, responsible for the violence done to victims, since, if they had tried, they could have come up with such decision-making procedures themselves.