Definition of "probability" []

• The quality or condition of being probable; likelihood. (noun)
• A probable situation, condition, or event: Her election is a clear probability. (noun)
• The likelihood that a given event will occur: little probability of rain tonight. (noun)
• Statistics A number expressing the likelihood that a specific event will occur, expressed as the ratio of the number of actual occurrences to the number of possible occurrences. (noun)
• In all probability Most probably; very likely. (idiom)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "It is a doubt founded on a _positive_ opinion against the existence of the law, or its applicability to the case in point, an opinion fraught with probability, _solid, comparative, practical probability_."
• "Note that it does not mean it will happen, just that the probability is approaching 1 or unity."
• "Embracing Some Risk Two certified financial planners and a finance professor have come up with a system that manages what they call the "probability of failure.""