random

1. 1

   A roving motion; course without definite direction; lack of rule or method; chance.countableuncountable

   • Still take advice ; though counsels, when they fly / At random, sometimes hit most happily.
   • O ! many a shaft, at random sent, / Finds mark the archer little meant !
2. 2

   Speed, full speed; impetuosity, force.countableobsoleteuncountable

   • […] for coragiouſly the two kynges newely foughte with great randon and force, they ſhewed their vigors and ſtrengthes and did ſo nobly that their coũter parties had none aduaũtage.
3. 3

   The full range of a bullet or other projectile; hence, the angle at which a weapon is tilted to allow the greatest range.countableobsoleteuncountable

   • Fortie yards will they shoot levell, or very neare the marke, and 120 is their best at Random.
   • […] the angle at which the miſſive is to mount by ( if we will have it go to its furtheſt randome ) muſt be the half of a right one […]
4. 4

   An undefined, unknown or unimportant person; a person of no consequence.colloquialcountablefiguratively

   • The party was boring. It was full of randoms.
5. 5

   The direction of a rake-vein.countableuncountable

6. 6

   A frame for composing type.countablehistoricaluncountable

   • Utilization of all floor space underneath case racks and randoms is another feature of the modern composing room; […]
   • Printers' frames and randoms

syn. vagrant

1. 1

   Occurring for no particular reason; haphazard, unpredictable.

   • Our city is plagued by random acts of violence.
   • random acts of kindness
2. 2

   Involving an outcome which is impossible to predict, but which may be represented by a probability distribution; in the ideal case, involving outcomes which are equally likely.

   • Near-synonyms: aleatory, stochastic
   • The flip of a fair coin is purely random.
3. 3

   Pseudorandom; mimicking the result of random selection.

   • The rand function generates a random number from a seed.
4. 4

   Selected for no particular reason; arbitrary; unspecified.informal

   • A random American off the street couldn't tell the difference.
   • You're just going to trust the word of random people on the Internet?
5. 5

   Being (part of) a varied, unrelated, and apparently arbitrary collection of things; diverse, heterogeneous.informal

   • My notebook has turned into a random collection of thoughts.
   • I brought a bunch of random snacks, but nothing nutritious.
6. 6

   Apropos of nothing; lacking context, relevance, or any connection to the previous situation; unexpected.informal

   • This random guy just came up to me to say that he was a fan of my work.
   • Thank you for that completely random comment... now, let's get back to our actual topic of discussion.
7. 7

   Of a person: characterized by or often saying random things; habitually using non sequiturs.informal

   • You're so random! I never know what you're going to do next.
8. 8

   Being out of the ordinary; unusual or unexpected; odd, strange, bizarre.UKslang

   • That's a rather random fact!
   • I can't believe he would say that. That's so random!

1. 1

   To wander; to stray; to meander.intransitiveuncommon