释义 |
chancy, a.|ˈtʃɑːnsɪ, -æ-| Also 9 chancey. [f. chance n. + -y1.] 1. Sc. Lucky. a. Bringing good fortune, auspicious; b. having good fortune, fortunate, happy. Obs.
1513Douglas æneis iii. ii. 103 To the chancy wyndis [he slew in sacrifice] ane mylk quhite [beist]. Ibid. xii. vii. 128 Desyre to be chancy and fortunate. a1774Fergusson Drink Eclog. Poems (1845) 57 Ye never saw sic chancy days. 1818S. E. Ferrier Marriage II. 132 ‘Puir tead, it's no had a very chancy ootset.’ 2. Sc. Lucky or safe to deal or meddle with; ‘canny’.
a1774Fergusson Poems (1789) II. 2 (Jam.) Some fiend or fairy, nae sae very chancy, Has driven me..To wed. 1816Scott Old Mort. v, ‘Tak tent o' yoursell, my bonny lassie, for my horse is not very chancy.’ 1870Edgar Runnymede 161 Which it is not chancy to meddle with. 3. Liable to chance or sudden change, uncertain, ‘casual’, risky, untrustworthy. colloq. or dial.
1860Geo. Eliot Mill on Fl. I. 166 There's never so much pleasure in wearing a bonnet the second year, especially when the crowns are so chancy—never two summers alike. 1867Trollope Chron. Barset I. xxv. 221 City money is always very chancy. 1876Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. iv. xxviii. 236 By a roundabout course even a gentleman may make of himself a chancy personage. 1882Contemp. Rev. 3 The crop, however, is a very ‘chancey’ one. 4. Cricket. Full of ‘chances’ (chance n. 4 c).
1875Field 8 May 458/1 Rumsey's long and very chancy innings. Hence ˈchanciness, casual quality.
1870Spectator 19 Nov. 1379 The illustration is admirable, and not least admirable for the ‘chanciness’ of its effect. |