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at random
Idioms and Phrases
Without order or fixed purpose, haphazardly, as in Jackson Pollock dropped paints on canvas seemingly at random . Originally this phrase meant “very speedily†and “heedlessly.†Shakespeare had the present usage in 1 Henry VI (5:3): “He talks at random; sure the man is mad.†[Late 1500s]Example Sentences
Police say the motive behind the attack is "under investigation" but they are considering the possibility that the suspect - who has not been officially identified - may have chosen victims at random.
But in the last two decades, no one has found them in anyone but humans, where they are reliably easy to find by testing neurons at random in the MTL.
Illegally shutting down much of the federal government and laying off thousands at random will suck money out of the economy, forcing a recession.
On the hillside, homes seemed to be almost flattened at random, with neighboring houses often suffering wildly different fates.
Under the false auspices of "efficiency," he's slashing workers at random and targeting entire departments that happen to have the power to hold his businesses accountable for law-breaking.
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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