random


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ran·dom

 (răn′dəm)
adj.
1. Having no specific pattern, purpose, or objective: random movements. See Synonyms at chance.
2. Mathematics & Statistics Of or relating to a type of circumstance or event that is described by a probability distribution.
3. Of or relating to an event in which all outcomes are equally likely, as in the testing of a blood sample for the presence of a substance.
Idiom:
at random
Without a governing design, method, or purpose; unsystematically: chose a card at random from the deck.

[From at random, by chance, at great speed, from Middle English randon, random, speed, violence, surge, from Old French randon, from randir, to run, probably from Frankish *rand, border, margin (as of a field, used as a racecourse); akin to German Rand, edge.]

ran′dom·ly adv.
ran′dom·ness n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

random

(ˈrændəm)
adj
1. lacking any definite plan or prearranged order; haphazard: a random selection.
2. (Statistics) statistics
a. having a value which cannot be determined but only described probabilistically: a random variable.
b. chosen without regard to any characteristics of the individual members of the population so that each has an equal chance of being selected: random sampling.
3. informal (of a person) unknown: some random guy waiting for a bus.
n
at random in a purposeless fashion; not following any prearranged order
[C14: from Old French randon, from randir to gallop, of Germanic origin; compare Old High German rinnan to run]
ˈrandomly adv
ˈrandomness n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ran•dom

(ˈræn dəm)

adj.
1. occurring or done without definite aim, reason, or pattern: random examples.
2. Statistics. of or characterizing a process of selection in which each item of a set has an equal probability of being chosen.
3. Building Trades.
a. (of building materials) lacking uniformity of dimensions: random shingles.
b. (of ashlar) laid without continuous courses.
c. constructed or applied without regularity: random bond.
adv.
4. Building Trades. without uniformity: random-sized slates.
Idioms:
at random, without regard to rules, schedules, etc.; haphazardly.
[1275–1325; Middle English raundon, random < Old French randon, derivative of randir to gallop < Germanic]
ran′dom•ly, adv.
ran′dom•ness, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Adj.1.random - lacking any definite plan or order or purpose; governed by or depending on chance; "a random choice"; "bombs fell at random"; "random movements"
nonrandom - not random
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

random

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

random

adjective
Having no particular pattern, purpose, organization, or structure:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
عشوائيعَشْوائيعَشْوَائِيّ
náhodnýnamátkový
tilfældig
juhuslik, suvalinesuvakas
asiaankuulumatonirrallinennäennäissatunnainensatunnainentavallinen
nasumičan
találomvéletlenvéletlenszerű
handahófskenndur
ランダムな手当たり次第の無作為な適当
무작위의
fortuitus
kaip papuolanesirenkant
gadījuma-nejaušs
na sleposlučajen
slumpartad
โดยการสุ่ม
ngẫu nhiên

random

[ˈrændəm]
A. ADJ
1. (= haphazard) [arrangement] → hecho al azar
a random selectionuna selección hecha al azar
a wall built of random stonesun muro hecho con piedras elegidas al azar
2. (= capricious, indiscriminate) → caprichoso
a random shotun disparo hecho sin apuntar, una bala perdida
3. (Statistics, Maths) [sample, distribution] → aleatorio
B. N at randomal azar
we picked the number at randomelegimos el número al azar
to talk at randomhablar sin pesar las palabras
to hit out at randomrepartir golpes por todos lados
C. CPD random access N (Comput) → acceso m aleatorio
random access memory N (Comput) → memoria f de acceso aleatorio
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

random

[ˈrændəm]
adj
[selection, sample] → aléatoire; [drug testing] → inopiné(e); [words, events] → aléatoire; [violence, killings] → gratuit(e)
a random selection → une sélection aléatoire
a random sample of 930 women → un échantillon aléatoire de 930 femmes
in random order → par ordre aléatoire
(COMPUTING, MATHEMATICS)aléatoire
n
at random → au hasard
We picked the number at random → Nous avons choisi le numéro au hasard.random access memory nmémoire f vive, RAM f
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

random

n at random (speak, walk, drive)aufs Geratewohl; shoot, drop bombsziellos; takewahllos; to hit out at randomziellos um sich schlagen; to talk at randomins Blaue hineinreden; a few examples chosen or taken at randomein paar willkürlich gewählte Beispiele; he just said anything at randomer hat einfach irgendetwas gesagt, er hat einfach drauflosgeredet; I (just) chose one at randomich wählte einfach irgendeine (Beliebige)
adj selectionwillkürlich; sequencezufällig; killed by a random bulletvon einer verirrten Kugel getötet; random breath/drug testStichprobe fauf Alkohol im Atem/auf Drogen

random

:
random number
nZufallszahl f
random sample
nStichprobe f
random sampling
nStichproben pl
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

random

[ˈrændəm]
1. adj (arrangement) → casuale, fortuito/a; (selection, shot, killing) → a caso
2. n at randoma caso, a casaccio
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

random

(ˈrӕndəm) adjective
done etc without any particular plan or system; irregular. The opinion poll was based on a random sample of adults.
ˈrandomly adverb
at random
without any particular plan or system. The police were stopping cars at random and checking their brakes; Choose a number at random.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

random

عَشْوَائِيّ náhodný tilfældig willkürlich τυχαίος al azar umpimähkäinen aléatoire nasumičan casuale 手当たり次第の 무작위의 willekeurig tilfeldig przypadkowy aleatório случайный slumpartad โดยการสุ่ม rastgele ngẫu nhiên 任意的
Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009

random

adj aleatorio; in random fashion..en forma aleatoria; at — al azar
English-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
References in classic literature ?
I revel in flowers without let, An atom at random in space; My soul dwells in regions ethereal, And the world is my dreaming-place.
Next day you repeat the experiment, and you find that the cat gets out much more quickly than the first time, although it still makes some random movements.
On his back he wears a spotted lynx-pelt, and he delights in high-pitched songs in a soft meadow where crocuses and sweet-smelling hyacinths bloom at random in the grass.
So I presently hurled a shoe at random, and with a vicious vigor.
She was splendid and robust, and had never appeared handsomer than in the old blue gown, with a red silk handkerchief knotted at random around her head to protect her hair from the dust.
It was Denneker's "Meditations." He opened it at random and began to read:
Besides all the other phenomena which the exterior of the Sperm Whale presents, he not seldom displays the back, and more especially his flanks, effaced in great part of the regular linear appearance, by reason of numerous rude scratches, altogether of an irregular, random aspect.
At the station the colonel put some money into Smith's hand and bid him good-by, saying, "Take care of your young mistress, Reuben, and don't let Black Auster be hacked about by any random young prig that wants to ride him -- keep him for the lady."
However, I had read "Tom Jones," and "Rod- erick Random," and other books of that kind, and knew that the highest and first ladies and gentlemen in England had remained little or no cleaner in their talk, and in the morals and conduct which such talk implies, clear up to a hundred years ago; in fact clear into our own nineteenth century -- in which century, broadly speaking, the earliest samples of the real lady and real gentleman discoverable in English history -- or in European history, for that matter -- may be said to have made their appearance.
Happy the blest ages that knew not the dread fury of those devilish engines of artillery, whose inventor I am persuaded is in hell receiving the reward of his diabolical invention, by which he made it easy for a base and cowardly arm to take the life of a gallant gentleman; and that, when he knows not how or whence, in the height of the ardour and enthusiasm that fire and animate brave hearts, there should come some random bullet, discharged perhaps by one who fled in terror at the flash when he fired off his accursed machine, which in an instant puts an end to the projects and cuts off the life of one who deserved to live for ages to come.
Why, the whole point, the real sting of it lay in the fact that continually, even in the moment of the acutest spleen, I was inwardly conscious with shame that I was not only not a spiteful but not even an embittered man, that I was simply scaring sparrows at random and amusing myself by it.
Ferguson counted upon following had not been chosen at random; his point of departure had been carefully studied, and it was not without good cause that he had resolved to ascend at the island of Zanzibar.