ACCIDENT


Meaning of ACCIDENT in English

noun

1 unexpected event that causes damage/injury

ADJECTIVE

▪ bad , dreadful ( esp. BrE ), horrible , horrific ( esp. BrE ), major , nasty , serious , terrible , tragic , unfortunate

▪ deadly ( AmE ), fatal

a fatal road ~

▪ minor , slight , small

▪ bizarre , freak

Their boat sank in a freak ~.

▪ hit-and-run

▪ industrial , nuclear

▪ auto ( AmE ), automobile ( AmE ), bike , car , highway ( AmE ), motor ( BrE ), motorbike ( BrE ), motorcycle , motor-vehicle , road , traffic

The woman was involved in a road traffic ~. ( BrE )

▪ aircraft , airplane ( AmE ), plane ( esp. AmE )

▪ boating , climbing , hunting , riding , skiing

VERB + ACCIDENT

▪ be involved in , have , meet with ( BrE ), suffer

She met with an ~ while skiing in Colorado.

▪ cause

▪ avoid , prevent

▪ survive

▪ recover from

ACCIDENT + VERB

▪ happen , occur , take place

ACCIDENT + NOUN

▪ black spot ( BrE )

▪ victim

▪ prevention

▪ investigation , report

▪ rate , statistics

PREPOSITION

▪ in an/the ~

PHRASES

▪ an ~ involving

He was badly hurt in an ~ involving two cars and a van.

▪ an ~ waiting to happen (= a situation which is likely to become dangerous)

▪ the scene of the ~

The ambulance took only six minutes to reach the scene of the ~.

2 sth not planned in advance

ADJECTIVE

▪ mere , pure , sheer

By pure ~ he had come across the very man who could solve the mystery.

▪ happy

▪ historical

PREPOSITION

▪ by ~

We met by ~ at the airport.

PHRASES

▪ an ~ of birth ( esp. BrE )

▪ an ~ of history

It's just an ~ of history that the city became part of the Soviet Union.

▪ be no ~ that … 

It is no ~ that men fill most of the top jobs.

▪ by ~ or design

It happened, whether by ~ or design, that Steve and I were the last two people to leave.

Oxford Collocations English Dictionary.      Оксфордский английский словарь словосочетаний .