1. [adj]  lacking any definite plan or order or purpose; governed by or depending on chance; "a random choice"; "bombs fell at random"; "random movements"
2. [adj]  taken haphazardly; "a random choice"

1. \Ran"dom\, n. [OE. randon, OF. randon force, violence,
   rapidity, a randon, de randon, violently, suddenly, rapidly,
   prob. of German origin; cf. G. rand edge, border, OHG. rant
   shield, edge of a shield, akin to E. rand, n. See {Rand}, n.]
   1. Force; violence. [Obs.]
            For courageously the two kings newly fought with
            great random and force.               --E. Hall.
   2. A roving motion; course without definite direction; want
      of direction, rule, or method; hazard; chance; -- commonly
      used in the phrase at random, that is, without a settled
      point of direction; at hazard.
            Counsels, when they fly At random, sometimes hit
            most happily.                         --Herrick.
            O, many a shaft, at random sent, Finds mark the
            archer little meant !                 --Sir W.
                                                  Scott.
   3. Distance to which a missile is cast; range; reach; as, the
      random of a rifle ball. --Sir K. Digby.
   4. (Mining) The direction of a rake-vein. --Raymond.
   

2. \Ran"dom\, a.
   Going at random or by chance; done or made at hazard, or
   without settled direction, aim, or purpose; hazarded without
   previous calculation; left to chance; haphazard; as, a random
   guess.
         Some random truths he can impart.        --Wordsworth.
         So sharp a spur to the lazy, and so strong a bridle to
         the random.                              --H. Spencer.
   {Random courses} (Masonry), courses of unequal thickness.
   {Random shot}, a shot not directed or aimed toward any
      particular object, or a shot with the muzzle of the gun
      much elevated.
   {Random work} (Masonry), stonework consisting of stones of
      unequal sizes fitted together, but not in courses nor
      always with flat beds.
   

1. Unpredictable (closest to mathematical definition); weird. "The system's been behaving pretty randomly."

2. Assorted; undistinguished. "Who was at the conference?" "Just a bunch of random business types."

3. (pejorative) Frivolous; unproductive; undirected. "He's just a random loser."

4. Incoherent or inelegant; poorly chosen; not well organised. "The program has a random set of misfeatures." "That's a random name for that function." "Well, all the names were chosen pretty randomly."

5. In no particular order, though deterministic. "The I/O channels are in a pool, and when a file is opened one is chosen randomly."

6. Arbitrary. "It generates a random name for the scratch file."

7. Gratuitously wrong, i.e. poorly done and for no good apparent reason. For example, a program that handles file name defaulting in a particularly useless way, or an assembler routine that could easily have been coded using only three registers, but redundantly uses seven for values with non-overlapping lifetimes, so that no one else can invoke it without first saving four extra registers. What randomness!

8. A random hacker; used particularly of high-school students who soak up computer time and generally get in the way.

9. Anyone who is not a hacker (or, sometimes, anyone not known to the hacker speaking). "I went to the talk, but the audience was full of randoms asking bogus questions".

10. (occasional MIT usage) One who lives at Random Hall. See also J. Random, some random X.

[Jargon File]