randomnoun/ˈɹændəm/

• 1

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

  • 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

  obsoleteSpeed, full speed; impetuosity, force.

  • they were messagers vnto kyng Ban & Bors sent from kynge Arthur / therfor said the viij knyghtes ye shalle dye or be prysoners / for we ben knyghtes of kyng Claudas And therwith two of them dressid theire sperys / and Vlfyus and Brastias dressid theire speres and ranne to gyder with grete raundon
  • […] 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

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

  • 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

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

  • The party was boring. It was full of randoms.
  • ‘The days I had to have sex with randoms, I thought thank God!’ Jamie Bell on eye-popping drama Half Man [title]
• 5

  businessminingThe direction of a rake-vein.

• 6

  historicalmediaprintingpublishingA frame for composing type.

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

randomadj/ˈɹændəm/

• 1

  Occurring for no particular reason; haphazard, unpredictable.

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

  mathematicssciencesstatisticsInvolving 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

  computingengineeringmathematicsPseudorandom; mimicking the result of random selection.

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

  informalSelected for no particular reason; arbitrary; unspecified.

  • 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

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

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

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

  • 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

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

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

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

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

randomverb/ˈɹændəm/

• 1

  To wander; to stray; to meander.