contingency

American  

[kuhn-tin-juhn-see] / kənˈtɪn dʒən si /

noun

plural

contingencies

1. dependence on chance or on the fulfillment of a condition; uncertainty; fortuitousness.

   Nothing was left to contingency.

2. a contingent event; a chance, accident, or possibility conditional on something uncertain.

   He was prepared for every contingency.

   Synonyms:

   predicament, likelihood, emergency

3. something incidental to a thing.

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contingency British  

/ kənˈtɪndʒənsɪ /

noun

1. 1. a possible but not very likely future event or condition; eventuality

   2. ( as modifier )

      a contingency plan

2. something dependent on a possible future event

3. a fact, event, etc, incidental to or dependent on something else

4. 1. modification of the meaning of a main clause by use of a bound clause introduced by a binder such as if, when, though, or since Compare adding

   2. ( as modifier )

      a contingency clause

5. logic

   1. the state of being contingent

   2. a contingent statement

6. dependence on chance; uncertainty

7. statistics

   1. the degree of association between theoretical and observed common frequencies of two graded or classified variables. It is measured by the chi-square test

   2. ( as modifier )

      a contingency table

      the contingency coefficient

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Etymology

Origin of contingency

First recorded in 1555–65; conting(ent) + -ency

Example Sentences

That is enough, they say, for them to earn a living and risk taking cases on a contingency fee basis — meaning, if they lose, they don’t get paid.

From Los Angeles Times

Its putative target is contingency fees, which are typically percentages of the payouts awarded by juries or through negotiations.

From Los Angeles Times

But the report warns that there is a tight construction schedule overall with little contingency in the next five years, so delivery dates could slip further.

From BBC

Maersk said it has contingency plans in place should the security situation deteriorate, which may necessitate reverting individual sailings or the wider service back to the Cape of Good Hope route.

From The Wall Street Journal

There were no contingencies at that point that the buyer could leverage, so he had no legal right to get out of the contract.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• emergency
• eventuality
• exigency
• probability