Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun An undertaking or enterprise of a hazardous nature.
  • noun An undertaking of a questionable nature, especially one involving intervention in another state's affairs.
  • noun An unusual or exciting experience.
  • noun Participation in hazardous or exciting experiences.
  • noun A financial speculation or business venture.
  • intransitive verb To venture upon; undertake or try.
  • intransitive verb To expose to danger or risk.
  • intransitive verb To proceed despite risks.
  • intransitive verb To take a risk; dare.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun 1. That which comes or happens to one; hap; chance; fortune; luck.
  • noun A hazardous enterprise; an undertaking of uncertain issue, or participation in such an undertaking.
  • noun A remarkable occurrence in one's personal history; a noteworthy event or experience in one's life.
  • noun A speculation of any kind, commercial, financial, or mining; a venture; specifically, a speculation in goods sent abroad.
  • noun Peril; danger.
  • noun Adventurous activity; participation in exciting or hazardous undertakings or enterprises: as, a spirit of adventure.
  • To risk or hazard; put in the power of unforeseen events: as, to adventure one's life.
  • To venture on; take the chance of; run the risk of doing or suffering.
  • To take the risk involved in doing anything; proceed at a venture.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To try the chance; to take the risk.
  • transitive verb To risk, or hazard; jeopard; to venture.
  • transitive verb To venture upon; to run the risk of; to dare.
  • noun That which happens without design; chance; hazard; hap; hence, chance of danger or loss.
  • noun obsolete Risk; danger; peril.
  • noun The encountering of risks; hazardous and striking enterprise; a bold undertaking, in which hazards are to be encountered, and the issue is staked upon unforeseen events; a daring feat.
  • noun A remarkable occurrence; a striking event; a stirring incident.
  • noun A mercantile or speculative enterprise of hazard; a venture; a shipment by a merchant on his own account.
  • noun (Com.) a writing setting forth that the goods shipped are at the owner's risk.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun That which happens without design; chance; hazard; hap; hence, chance of danger or loss.
  • noun The encountering of risks; hazardous and striking enterprise; a bold undertaking, in which hazards are to be encountered, and the issue is staked upon unforeseen events; a daring feat.
  • noun A remarkable occurrence; a striking event; a stirring incident; as, the adventures of one's life.
  • noun A mercantile or speculative enterprise of hazard; a venture; a shipment by a merchant on his own account.
  • noun video games A text adventure or an adventure game.
  • verb transitive To risk or hazard; jeopard; venture.
  • verb transitive To venture upon; to run the risk of; to dare.
  • verb intransitive To try the chance; to take the risk.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb put at risk
  • noun a wild and exciting undertaking (not necessarily lawful)
  • verb take a risk in the hope of a favorable outcome

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English aventure, from Old French, from Latin adventūrus, future participle of advenīre, to arrive; see advent.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English aventure, aunter, anter, from Old French aventure, from Late Latin adventurus, from Latin advenire, adventum ("to arrive"), which in the Romance languages took the sense of "to happen, befall" (see also advene).

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English aventuren, auntren, which from Old French aventurer, from aventure.

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