1.
2.
[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.
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Thou cam'st not to thy place by accident:
It is the very place God meant for thee. --Trench.
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2. (Gram.) A property attached to a word, but not essential
to it, as gender, number, case.
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3. (Her.) A point or mark which may be retained or omitted in
a coat of arms.
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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.
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This accident, as I call it, of Athens being
situated some miles from the sea. --J. P.
Mahaffy.
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6. Unusual appearance or effect. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
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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