occasion
a particular time, especially as marked by certain circumstances or occurrences: They met on three occasions.
a special or important time, event, ceremony, celebration, etc.: His birthday will be quite an occasion.
a convenient or favorable time, opportunity, or juncture: This slack period would be a good occasion to take inventory.
the immediate or incidental cause or reason for some action or result: What is the occasion for this uproar?
(in the philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead) the coincidence of the eternal objects forming a specific point-event.
occasions, Obsolete.
needs or necessities.
necessary business matters: to go about one's lawful occasions.
to give occasion or cause for; bring about.
Idioms about occasion
on occasion, now and then; from time to time; occasionally: She visits New York on occasion.
Origin of occasion
1synonym study For occasion
Other words for occasion
Other words from occasion
- pre·oc·ca·sioned, adjective
Words Nearby occasion
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use occasion in a sentence
Last week I turned 40, a bittersweet occasion because I crossed the line to living longer without my mother than with her.
Everyone at This Dinner Party Has Lost Someone | Samantha Levine | January 6, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTTo Hitchcock, this is not a sweet wire from an old colleague but a condolence letter on the occasion of his own death.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days | David Freeman | December 13, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTIt was also an occasion for voluptuary displays of tough-mindedness.
But the occasion is even more special when you can cheers with some funky flutes.
The Daily Beast’s 2014 Holiday Gift Guide: For the Carrie Bradshaw in Your Life | Allison McNearney | November 29, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe government defines excessive drinking as drinking too much on one occasion over the course of a week.
Americans Drink Too Much, But We’re Not All Alcoholics | Gabrielle Glaser | November 25, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Some were even re-arrested for the same nefarious purpose, and the daily papers published their names on each occasion.
The Philippine Islands | John ForemanFatigue he never knew, and on one occasion he was said to have spent thirteen days and nights in the saddle.
Napoleon's Marshals | R. P. Dunn-PattisonSometimes necessity makes an honest man a knave: and a rich man a honest man, because he has no occasion to be a knave.
Mr. Brown seizes the proffered member, and gives it as hearty a pressure as the publicity of the occasion will permit.
Physiology of The Opera | John H. Swaby (AKA "Scrici")The occasion should be seized also to increase the balances of depositors who carry unprofitable accounts.
Readings in Money and Banking | Chester Arthur Phillips
British Dictionary definitions for occasion
/ (əˈkeɪʒən) /
(sometimes foll by of) the time of a particular happening or event
(sometimes foll by for) a reason or cause (to do or be something); grounds: there was no occasion to complain
an opportunity (to do something); chance
a special event, time, or celebration: the party was quite an occasion
on occasion every so often
rise to the occasion to have the courage, wit, etc, to meet the special demands of a situation
take occasion to avail oneself of an opportunity (to do something)
(tr) to bring about, esp incidentally or by chance
Origin of occasion
1- See also occasions
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with occasion
see on occasion; rise to the occasion.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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