волею судьбы

• ВОЛЕЮ СУДЬБЫ <СУДЕБ>; ПО ВОЛЕ СУДЬБЫ <СУДЕБ> all lit

[NPinstrum or PrepP; these forms only; sent adv; fixed WO]

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⇒ as a result of circumstances (over which one has no control):

- by the will <the hand> of fate;

- as fate (has) willed;

- as the fates (have) decreed;

- (one < s.o.> has been) fated (to do sth.);

- it is one's < s.o.'s> fate (to do sth.).

     ♦ Оказавшись волею судеб первыми свидетелями внеземной общественной жизни, мы испытываем сложные чувства... (Айтматов 2). Since we have been fated to be the first to see an extraterrestrial civilization, we are experiencing complicated reactions... (2a).

     ♦ [Андрей:]...Это и был предел ваших мечтаний? [Маша:] Конечно, нет... Но волею судеб я стала фотографом, и мне нравится эта работа (Розов 1). [A.:] Well, is being a photographer the height of your ambition? [M.:] Of course not. ...It was my fate to become one. But I like it now... (1a).