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accident

[ ak-si-duhnt ]
/ ˈæk sɪ dənt /
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noun

VIDEO FOR ACCIDENT

Are Accidents Always Bad?

As a teenager, I had this one friend who used to call his kid brother “The Accident” every time he got annoyed with him. Does that mean all accidents aren't bad?

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Origin of accident

1350–1400; Middle English <Latin accident- (stem of accidēns happening, present participle of accidere to befall), equivalent to ac-ac- + -cid-, combining form of cad- fall + -ent--ent

OTHER WORDS FROM accident

post·ac·ci·dent, adjective

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH accident

accident , Occident
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use accident in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for accident

accident
/ (ˈæksɪdənt) /

noun
an unforeseen event or one without an apparent cause
anything that occurs unintentionally or by chance; chance; fortuneI met him by accident
a misfortune or mishap, esp one causing injury or death
Also called: adjunct logic philosophy a nonessential attribute or characteristic of something (as opposed to substance)
metaphysics a property as contrasted with the substance in which it inheres
geology a surface irregularity in a natural formation, esp in a rock formation or a river system

Word Origin for accident

C14: via Old French from Latin accident- chance, happening, from the present participle of accidere to befall, happen, from ad- to + cadere to fall
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
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