accidentnoun [ C ]
uk/ˈæk.sɪ.dənt/us/ˈæk.sə.dənt/A2 something bad that happens that is not expected or intended and that often damages something or injures someone:
Josh had an accident and spilled water all over his work.
She was injured in a car/road accident (= when one car hit another).
by accident
B1 without intending to, or without being intended:
I deleted the file by accident.
I found her letter by accident as I was looking through my files.
More examples
- I was hardly able to move my arm after the accident.
- She injured her spine in a riding accident.
- Did you leave his name out by accident or was it intentional?
- It was an accident - I didn't mean to break it, honestly.
- The company refused to accept responsibility for the accident.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Accidents and disasters
- a knockout blow idiom
- accidental
- accidentally
- accidentally on purpose idiom
- accidents will happen idiom
- calamity
- cataclysm
- catastrophe
- debacle
- devil
- disastrous
- emergency
- forest fire
- holocaust
- knockout
- meltdown
- misadventure
- snafu
- the devil to pay idiom
- tragedy
See more results »
Idiom(s)
accidents will happen
an accident waiting to happen
have an accident
more by accident than design