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# random

«random» in Mova's school dictionary: **happening or chosen with no plan, pattern or reason, so…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

adjective (random; more random, most random); noun (at random)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Random means happening or chosen with no plan, pattern or reason, so you cannot guess it beforehand. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/random/#m1)

2) Random (informal) means strange, unexpected or not connected to what is going on. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/random/#m2)

3) A random person or thing is just any one, not a special or known one. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/random/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In maths, random choice is important for probability: picking a card «at random» means every card has the same chance. In science, samples are chosen at random to make a test fair. In everyday talk, «that was so random» means it was odd. Phrases: «at random», «random number», «a random person».

### examples

- The teacher picked a name at random from the hat. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/random/#x1)
- Roll the dice to get a random number from one to six. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/random/#x2)
- The scientist chose ten random leaves to measure. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/random/#x3)
- He said something totally random about penguins. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/random/#x4)
- A random man on the bus asked me the time. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/random/#x5)
- The colours on the quilt were in a random order. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/random/#x6)
- If you pick a random marble, what is the chance it is red? [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/random/#x7)
- Don't click on random links online. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/random/#x8)
- The pictures I have here given have not been chosen at random, but follow in their proper order, just as they were described to me. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/random/#x9)

### note

Adjective, no plural. «At random» is a common phrase meaning «with no choice or plan». In maths, «random» does not mean «weird»; it means each outcome has a fair chance. Safety: do not open random messages or links from people you do not know.

### In the corpora

- [They are not random hard words; most are words children need in their own writing all the time.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/13-words-to-know-years-3-4/1/)
- [A rating is not random; it tells you what is inside.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/400-what-the-numbers-on-the-box-mean/13/)
- [A long password made of several random words is much harder to guess and easy to remember.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/411-account-swaps-and-passwords/24/)
- [Age ratings such as PEGI and ESRB add a note when a game has in-game purchases with random items.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/413-loot-boxes-and-the-surprise-trap/37/)
- [Little children can buy things by pressing buttons at random on a device with a saved card.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/414-mums-card/28/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «random» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/R/random/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.