Search Result for "accident": 
Wordnet 3.0

NOUN (2)

1. an unfortunate mishap; especially one causing damage or injury;

2. anything that happens suddenly or by chance without an apparent cause;
- Example: "winning the lottery was a happy accident"
- Example: "the pregnancy was a stroke of bad luck"
- Example: "it was due to an accident or fortuity"
[syn: accident, stroke, fortuity, chance event]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Accident \Ac"ci*dent\, n. [F. accident, fr. L. accidens, -dentis, p. pr. of accidere to happen; ad + cadere to fall. See Cadence, Case.] 1. Literally, a befalling; an event that takes place without one's foresight or expectation; an undesigned, sudden, and unexpected event; chance; contingency; often, an undesigned and unforeseen occurrence of an afflictive or unfortunate character; a casualty; a mishap; as, to die by an accident. [1913 Webster] Of moving accidents by flood and field. --Shak. [1913 Webster] Thou cam'st not to thy place by accident: It is the very place God meant for thee. --Trench. [1913 Webster] 2. (Gram.) A property attached to a word, but not essential to it, as gender, number, case. [1913 Webster] 3. (Her.) A point or mark which may be retained or omitted in a coat of arms. [1913 Webster] 4. (Log.) (a) A property or quality of a thing which is not essential to it, as whiteness in paper; an attribute. (b) A quality or attribute in distinction from the substance, as sweetness, softness. [1913 Webster] 5. Any accidental property, fact, or relation; an accidental or nonessential; as, beauty is an accident. [1913 Webster] This accident, as I call it, of Athens being situated some miles from the sea. --J. P. Mahaffy. [1913 Webster] 6. Unusual appearance or effect. [Obs.] --Chaucer. [1913 Webster] Note: Accident, in Law, is equivalent to casus, or such unforeseen, extraordinary, extraneous interference as is out of the range of ordinary calculation. [1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

accident n 1: an unfortunate mishap; especially one causing damage or injury 2: anything that happens suddenly or by chance without an apparent cause; "winning the lottery was a happy accident"; "the pregnancy was a stroke of bad luck"; "it was due to an accident or fortuity" [syn: accident, stroke, fortuity, chance event]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

77 Moby Thesaurus words for "accident": accessary, accessory, accidental, addendum, addition, adjunct, adventure, appendage, appurtenance, auxiliary, blow, blunder, calamity, casualty, cataclysm, catastrophe, chance, chance hit, collateral, collision, coming to be, contingency, contingent, contretemps, crack-up, crash, destiny, disaster, event, eventuality, eventuation, extra, fate, fluke, fortuity, fortune, freak accident, grief, hap, happening, happenstance, hazard, ill hap, incidence, incidental, inessential, kismet, long odds, long shot, luck, lucky shot, materialization, mere chance, misadventure, mischance, misfortune, mishap, mistake, nasty blow, nonessential, not-self, other, pileup, realization, secondary, serendipity, shipwreck, shock, smash, smashup, staggering blow, subsidiary, superaddition, supplement, tragedy, unessential, wreck
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):

ACCIDENT, practice. This term in chancery jurisprudence, signifies such unforeseen events, misfortunes, losses, acts or omissions, as are not the result of any negligence or misconduct in the party. Francis' Max. M. 120, p. 87; 1 Story on Eq. Sec. 78. Jeremy defines it as used in courts of equity, to be "an occurrence in relation to a contract, which was not anticipated by the parties, when the same was entered into, and which gives an undue advantage to one of them over the other in a court of law." Jer. on Eq. 358. This definition is objected to, because as accident may arise in relation to other things besides contracts, it is inaccurate in confining accidents to contracts; besides, it does not exclude cases of unanticipated occurrences, resulting from the negligence or misconduct of the party seeking relief. 1 Story on Eq. Sec. 78, note 1. 2. In general, courts of equity will relieve a party who cannot obtain justice in consequence of an accident, which will justify the interposition of a court of equity. The jurisdiction being concurrent, will be maintained only, first, when a court of law cannot grant suitable relief; and, secondly, when the party has a conscientious title to relief. 3. Many accidents are redressed in a court of law; as loss of deeds, mistakes in receipts and accounts, wrong payments, death, which makes it impossible to perform a condition literally, and a multitude of other contingencies; and many cannot be redressed even in a court of equity; is if by accident a recovery is ill suffered, a contingent remainder destroyed, or a power of leasing omitted in a family settlement. 3 Bl. Comm. 431. Vide, generally, Com. Dig. Chancery, 3 F 8; 1 Fonb. Eq. B. 1, c. 3, s. 7; Coop. Eq. Pl. 129; 1 Chit. Pr. 408; Harr. Ch. Index, h.t.; Dane's Ab. h.t.; Wheat. Dig. 48; Mitf. Pl. Index, h.t.; 1 Madd. Ch. Pr. 23; 10 Mod. R. 1, 3; 3 Chit. Bl. Com. 426, n.
The Devil's Dictionary (1881-1906):

ACCIDENT, n. An inevitable occurrence due to the action of immutable natural laws.
U.S. Gazetteer Places (2000):

Accident, MD -- U.S. town in Maryland Population (2000): 353 Housing Units (2000): 162 Land area (2000): 0.496408 sq. miles (1.285690 sq. km) Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km) Total area (2000): 0.496408 sq. miles (1.285690 sq. km) FIPS code: 00225 Located within: Maryland (MD), FIPS 24 Location: 39.628074 N, 79.319996 W ZIP Codes (1990): 21520 Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs. Headwords: Accident, MD Accident