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accident definition

ac·ci·dent (ak′sə dənt)

noun

  1. a happening that is not expected, foreseen, or intended
  2. an unpleasant and unintended happening, sometimes resulting from negligence, that results in injury, loss, damage, etc.
  3. fortune; chance to meet by accident
  4. an attribute or quality that is not essential
  5. Geog., Geol. an irregular formation
  6. Law an unforeseen event that occurs without anyone's fault or negligence

Etymology: ME < OFr < L accidens, prp. of accidere, to fall upon, happen < ad-, to + cadere, to fall: see case

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Alternate definitions:

law accident definition - legal

accident Synonyms

accident

n.

  1. An unexpected misfortune

    mishap, mischance, setback, collision; see collision 1, disaster, misfortune 2.

  2. Chance, or a chance happening

    fortune, chance, luck, adventure, contingency, occurrence, happening, circumstance, turn, unforeseen occurrence, fortuity, event, occasion, befalling, fluke*; see also chance 1.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

accident Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • prevent: Vehicles at work These pages are here to help you prevent vehicle accidents at work.

Adjective modifier

  • fatal: The first fatal motor accident in Redbourn was near The Chequers in 1908.

Modifies a noun

  • blackspots: These new ones work on average speed over a certain distance, and so are completely useless for accident blackspots.

Noun used with modifier

  • traffic: Do you know about my sister, whose husband died in a traffic accident, leaving her with three children?
accident usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

accident quotes

I read about writers' lives with the fascination of one slowing down to get a good look at an automobile accident.

-Gibbons, Kaye

His dominance is not that of one chosen as best fitted torule†but it issovereignty basedontheaccidentofsex.

-Gilman and Charlotte Perkins Stetson

Body-line was not an incident, it was not an accident, it was not a temporary aberration. It was the violence and ferocity of our age expressing itself in cricket.

-James, C(yril) L(ionel) R(obert)

accident quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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MLA Style

"accident." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 4 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/accident>

APA Style

accident. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 4th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/accident

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