random number

Noun

random number (plural random numbers)

1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see random, number.
2. A number allotted randomly using suitable generator (electronic machine or as simple "generator" as die).
3. A number selected based on a uniform distribution, typically using a suitable generator (for example, rolling a die).
   • Tossing a coin is a classical procedure for producing a random number .... Tossing a coin 20 times can produce any one of 2²⁰ ... binary series, and each of them has exactly the same probability.1975, Gregory Chaitin, "Randomness and Mathematical Proof", Scientific American, (232), May 1975, pp. 47–52, reprinted in Information, Randomness & Incompleteness: Papers on Algorithmic Information...
   • A random number is a precisely defined mathematical concept in which every number should have an equal likeliness of occurrence....1998, Stuart Mealing, The Art and Science of Computer Animation, Intellect Books, page 208
4. A pseudorandom number.
   • The generation of random numbers is too important to be left to chance.1970, Robert Coveyou (attributed)