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Contingency definition

kən-tĭnjən-sē
contingencies
See word origin
Frequency:
The condition of being dependent on chance; uncertainty.
noun
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2
Some thing or event which depends on or is incidental to another.

The contingencies of war.

noun
6
2
An event that may occur but that is not likely or intended; a possibility.
noun
3
0
A fee charged for a lawyer’s services in an action that is paid only if the client wins his or her lawsuit or receives a payment from an out-of-court settlement. Usually, the fee is a percentage of the amount recovered. Further-more, whatever the result of the action, the client will pay the court costs and the other out-of-pocket expenses (postage, subpoena fees, and so on) incurred by the lawyer during the course of the action. Although contingency fees are frequently charged for a lawyer’s services in a civil action, it is unethical to charge this way for services in a criminal action. Also called contingent fee. See also attorney’s fees and champerty.
2
0
The quality or condition of being contingent; esp., dependence on chance or uncertain conditions.
noun
4
3
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(logic, countable) A statement which is neither a tautology nor a contradiction.
noun
1
0
Contingency means something that could happen or come up depending on other occurrences.

An example of a contingency is the unexpected need for a bandage on a hike.

noun
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The definition of a contingency is something that depends on something else in order to happen.

An example of contingency is a military strategy that can’t go forward until an earlier piece of the war plan is complete.

noun
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Something incidental to something else.
noun
0
0
A possibility that must be prepared for; a future emergency.
noun
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A future event or circumstance whose occurrence is not certain.
noun
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(uncountable) The quality of being contingent, of happening by chance; unpredictability. [1560s]
noun
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(countable) A possibility; something which may or may not happen. A chance occurrence, especially in finance, unexpected expenses. [1610s]
noun
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(countable) An amount of money which a party to a contract has to pay to the other party (usually the supplier of a major project to the client) if he or she does not fulfill the contract according to the specification.
noun
0
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Something whose occurrence depends on chance or uncertain conditions; a possible, unforeseen, or accidental occurrence.

Be prepared for any contingency.

noun
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2
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Other Word Forms

Noun

Singular:
contingency
Plural:
contingencies

Origin of contingency

  • contingent +‎ -cy (16th century).

    From Wiktionary

Contingency Sentence Examples

  • This type of contingency was not one we planned for.

  • The British admiral, when informed that the French were at sea, justified Napoleon's estimate of his probable course in such a contingency, by making a useless cruise to Egypt.

  • Bernstorff was bound by treaty to assist Russia in such a contingency, but he took care that the assistance so rendered should be as trifling as possible, to avoid offending Great Britain and Prussia.

  • This contingency had been studied, and preparations for a new line had begun, during the Austrian offensive in 1916, and Cadorna had ordered the work to be continued during the interval.

  • And though the Stoic doctrine of determinism did not, when applied to moral problems, advance much beyond the reiteration of arguments derived from the universal validity of the principles of causality, nor the Epicurean counter-assertion of freedom avoid the error of regarding chance as a real cause and universal contingency as an explanation of the universe, it was nevertheless a real step forward to perceive the existence of the problem.

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Words near contingency in the Dictionary