accident
[noun]
Synonyms:
- misfortune, calamity, collision, crash, disaster, misadventure, mishap
- chance, fate, fluke, fortuity, fortune, hazard, luck

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Antonyms: intent
Contrasted words: design, premeditation, foreordination, predestination
Related Words: fluke, fortune, hazard, calamity, catastrophe, disaster, tragedy, misfortune, chance, destiny, fate, kismet

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English Thesaurus: accident, crash, collision, a head-on collision, disaster, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

ac‧ci‧dent S2 W2 /ˈæksədənt, ˈæksɪdənt/ noun
[Word Family: noun: accident; adverb: accidentally; adjective: accidental]
[Date: 1300-1400; Language: French; Origin: Latin accidens 'additional quality, chance', from accidere 'to happen', from ad- 'to' + cadere 'to fall']

1. by accident in a way that is not planned or intended Antonym : on purpose, deliberately:
I met her quite by accident (=completely by accident).
The discovery was made almost by accident.
The pilot, whether by accident or design (=whether it was planned or not planned), made the plane do a sharp turn.

2. [countable] an event in which a car, train, plane etc is damaged and often someone is hurt:
Over 70,000 people are seriously injured every year in road accidents.
The accident happened at the junction of Forest Road and Pine Walk.
a train accident

3.
[countable] a situation in which someone is injured or something is damaged without anyone intending them to be:
Ken had an accident at work and had to go to hospital.
I’m sorry about breaking the vase – it was an accident (=I did not intend to do it).
a climbing/skiing/hunting etc accident
He died in a climbing accident in the Himalayas.
She was injured in a freak accident (=an unusual accident) when a wall suddenly collapsed.
I had a slight accident with your coffee.
They lost their lives in a tragic accident.

4. [uncountable and countable] something that happens without anyone planning or intending it:
My third baby was an accident.
It is no accident that men fill most of the top jobs in nursing, while women remain on the lower grades.
an accident of birth/geography/history etc (=an event or situation caused by chance)

5. accidents (will) happen spoken used to tell someone who has broken something that they should not worry that it has happened

6. an accident waiting to happen used about a situation in which an accident is likely to happen because no one is trying to prevent it:
The boats are being left to drift; it’s an accident waiting to happen.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

accident
noun
I. unexpected event that causes damage/injury
ADJ. dreadful, horrific, major, nasty, serious, terrible, tragic, unfortunate | fatal a fatal road accident
minor, slight | freak Their boat sank in a freak accident.
near (= that nearly happens, but does not) | hit-and-run | aircraft, canoeing, car, climbing, flying, industrial, motor, nuclear, road, traffic, etc.
VERB + ACCIDENT be involved in, have, meet with She met with an accident while on holiday in Spain.
cause | prevent | survive
ACCIDENT + VERB happen, occur, take place
ACCIDENT + NOUN prevention | rates, statistics
PREP. in an/the ~
PHRASES an accident involving He was badly hurt in an accident involving two cars and a lorry.
the scene of the accident The ambulance took only six minutes to reach the scene of the accident.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

accident
II. sth not planned in advance
ADJ. pure, sheer By pure accident he had come across the very man who could solve the mystery.
PREP. by ~ We met by accident at the airport.
PHRASES be no accident that … It is no accident that men fill most of the top jobs.
by accident or design It happened, whether by accident or design, that Steve and I were the last two people to leave.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

accident

a bad/serious accident
There’s been a bad accident on the freeway.
The road is closed following a serious accident.
a major accident
News is coming in of a major rail accident.
a horrible/nasty/horrific accident
We narrowly avoided a nasty accident.
‘This was an absolutely horrific accident,’ said an ambulance spokesman.
a fatal accident (=in which someone is killed)
a fatal accident involving a bus and a cyclist
a minor accident (=one that is not serious)
The ice and poor visibility caused minor accidents all over the country.
a road/traffic accident
The number of traffic accidents has gone down.
Portugal has one of Western Europe’s worst road accident rates.
a car accident (also an automobile accident American English formal)
He was badly injured in a car accident.
a plane accident/an airplane accident (also a flying accident)
Holly died in a plane accident.
a rail accident/a train accident
It was the country's worst ever rail accident.
a hit-and-run accident (=when someone is hit by a driver who does not stop)
A woman is fighting for her life after a hit-and-run accident.
have an accident
I had an accident on my way to work.
be involved in an accident formal
Your son has been involved in a car accident.
prevent an accident
Steps have been taken to prevent a similar accident happening again.
an accident happens (also an accident occurs formal)
No one saw the accident happen.
Most road accidents occur in urban areas.
an accident victim
One of the accident victims is still trapped in his vehicle.
accident rates/statistics
There is a relation between accident rates and the numbers of drivers on the road.
a survey of the latest airline accident statistics
an accident investigation/inquiry
The two deaths are the subject of an accident inquiry.
Accident investigations often take months.
an accident investigator
Accident investigators have been there all morning.
the scene of an accident (=the place where it happened)
Police were at the scene of the accident within minutes.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

accident
noun
BAD: Her car was involved in a big accident.
GOOD: Her car was involved in a serious accident.

Usage Note:
a bad/dreadful/nasty/serious/fatal accident (NOT big )

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Common Errors ▲

accident an event in which a vehicle is damaged and often someone is hurt:
Her father died in a car accident.
Hugh had an accident on his way to work.
crash a serious accident in which a vehicle hits something else:
Rees-Jones was the only person to survive the crash.
a car/plane/train crash
He was killed in a plane crash.
collision an accident in which two or more cars, trains etc hit each other:
His car was involved in a collision with a train.
⇒ a head-on collision (=between vehicles that are driving towards each other):
The actor was killed in a head-on collision while driving his new sports car.
disaster a serious accident involving a train, plane, or boat, in which a lot of people are killed or injured:
It was Britain’s worst air disaster.
wreck American English an accident in which a car or train is badly damaged:
Ben nearly died in a car wreck.
pile-up an accident that involves several cars or trucks:
The pile-up happened in thick fog.
There was a 12-car pile-up on the motorway.
fender-bender American English informal
, prang British English informal a car accident in which little damage is done:
Atkinson was involved in a fender-bender in the hotel parking lot.
At 15, he borrowed his parents’ car and had a prang.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

accidentally/by accident in a way that was not planned or intended:
He accidentally shot his friend.
Fleming discovered the drug by accident, when he was researching something else.
I met the man purely by accident, and we began a conversation.
by mistake if you do something by mistake, you intend to do one thing, but you accidentally do something else instead:
Michelle must have picked up my keys by mistake.
Gary wandered into the wrong hotel room by mistake.
be an accident if you say that something was an accident, you mean that you are sorry it happened, but it was not done deliberately:
Marris told the police the killing was an accident.
Don’t blame yourself – it was an accident.
unintentionally if you do something unintentionally, especially something bad, you do it even though you do not intend to do it:
Teachers often unintentionally favour certain students.
Several scenes in the movie are unintentionally funny.
inadvertently if you inadvertently do something, you do it without realizing you are doing it, because you are not careful enough:
In a panic, I inadvertently pushed the accelerator instead of the brake.
The Finance Minister inadvertently revealed budget secrets to reporters.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

destroy to damage something so badly that it no longer exists or cannot be used or repaired:
The earthquake almost completely destroyed the city.
The twin towers were destroyed in a terrorist attack.
devastate to damage a large area very badly and destroy many things in it:
Allied bombings in 1943 devastated the city.
The country’s economy has been devastated by years of fighting.
demolish to completely destroy a building, either deliberately or by accident:
The original 15th century house was demolished in Victorian times.
The plane crashed into a suburb of Paris, demolishing several buildings.
flatten to destroy a building or town by knocking it down, bombing it etc, so that nothing is left standing:
The town centre was flattened by a 500 lb bomb.
wreck to deliberately damage something very badly, especially a room or building:
The toilets had been wrecked by vandals.
They just wrecked the place.
trash informal to deliberately destroy a lot of the things in a room, house etc:
Apparently, he trashed his hotel room while on drugs.
obliterate formal to destroy a place so completely that nothing remains:
The nuclear blast obliterated most of Hiroshima.
reduce something to ruins/rubble/ashes to destroy a building or town completely:
The town was reduced to rubble in the First World War.
ruin to spoil something completely, so that it cannot be used or enjoyed:
Fungus may ruin the crop.
The new houses will ruin the view.
accident an event in which a vehicle is damaged and often someone is hurt:
Her father died in a car accident.
Hugh had an accident on his way to work.
crash a serious accident in which a vehicle hits something else:
Rees-Jones was the only person to survive the crash.
a car/plane/train crash
He was killed in a plane crash.
collision an accident in which two or more cars, trains etc hit each other:
His car was involved in a collision with a train.
⇒ a head-on collision (=between vehicles that are driving towards each other):
The actor was killed in a head-on collision while driving his new sports car.
disaster a serious accident involving a train, plane, or boat, in which a lot of people are killed or injured:
It was Britain’s worst air disaster.
pile-up an accident that involves several cars or trucks:
The pile-up happened in thick fog.
There was a 12-car pile-up on the motorway.
fender-bender American English informal
, prang British English informal a car accident in which little damage is done:
Atkinson was involved in a fender-bender in the hotel parking lot.
At 15, he borrowed his parents’ car and had a prang.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲