5 dictionary results for: accidental
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
ac·ci·den·tal
[ak-si-den-tl] Pronunciation Key
—Related forms
[ak-si-den-tl] Pronunciation Key –adjective
–noun
| 1. | happening by chance or accident; not planned; unexpected: an accidental meeting. |
| 2. | nonessential; incidental; subsidiary: accidental benefits. |
| 3. | Music. relating to or indicating sharps, flats, or naturals. |
| 4. | a nonessential or subsidiary circumstance, characteristic, or feature. |
| 5. | Music. a sign placed before a note indicating a chromatic alteration of its pitch. |
—Related forms
ac·ci·den·tal·ly, adverb
ac·ci·den·tal·ness, ac·ci·den·tal·i·ty, noun
—Synonyms 1. unintentional, unforeseen. Accidental, casual, fortuitous all describe something outside the usual course of events. Accidental implies occurring unexpectedly or by chance: an accidental blow. Casual describes a passing event of slight importance: a casual reference. Fortuitous is applied to events occurring without known cause, often of a fortunate or favorable nature: a fortuitous shower of meteors. It often also implies good luck or good fortune: a fortuitous choice leading to rapid advancement.
—Antonyms 1. planned, contrived.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| ac·ci·den·tal
(āk'sĭ-děn'tl) Pronunciation Key
adj.
n.
ac'ci·den'tal·ly, ac'ci·dent'ly adv., ac'ci·den'tal·ness n. Synonyms: These adjectives apply to what happens unintentionally. Accidental primarily refers to what occurs by chance: an accidental meeting. |
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
| accidental | |
adjective | |
| 1. | happening by chance or unexpectedly or unintentionally ; "with an inadvertent gesture she swept the vase off the table"; "accidental poisoning"; "an accidental shooting" |
noun | |
| 1. | a musical notation that makes a note sharp or flat or natural although that is not part of the key signature |
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Accidental
Ac`ci*den"tal\, a. [Cf. F. accidentel, earlier accidental.]1. Happening by chance, or unexpectedly; taking place not according to the usual course of things; casual; fortuitous; as, an accidental visit. 2. Nonessential; not necessary belonging; incidental; as, are accidental to a play. Accidental chords (Mus.), those which contain one or more tones foreign to their proper harmony. Accidental colors (Opt.), colors depending on the hypersensibility of the retina of the eye for complementary colors. They are purely subjective sensations of color which often result from the contemplation of actually colored bodies. Accidental point (Persp.), the point in which a right line, drawn from the eye, parallel to a given right line, cuts the perspective plane; so called to distinguish it from the principal point, or point of view, where a line drawn from the eye perpendicular to the perspective plane meets this plane. Accidental lights (Paint.), secondary lights; effects of light other than ordinary daylight, such as the rays of the sun darting through a cloud, or between the leaves of trees; the effect of moonlight, candlelight, or burning bodies. --Fairholt. Syn: Casual; fortuitous; contingent; occasional; adventitious. Usage: Accidental, Incidental, Casual, Fortuitous, Contingent. We speak of a thing as accidental when it falls out as by chance, and not in the regular course of things; as, an accidental meeting, an accidental advantage, etc. We call a thing incidental when it falls, as it were, into some regular course of things, but is secondary, and forms no essential part thereof; as, an incremental remark, an incidental evil, an incidental benefit. We speak of a thing as casual, when it falls out or happens, as it were, by mere chance, without being prearranged or premeditated; as, a casual remark or encounter; a casual observer. An idea of the unimportant is attached to what is casual. Fortuitous is applied to what occurs without any known cause, and in opposition to what has been foreseen; as, a fortuitous concourse of atoms. We call a thing contingent when it is such that, considered in itself, it may or may not happen, but is dependent for its existence on something else; as, the time of my coming will be contingent on intelligence yet to be received.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Accidental
Ac`ci*den"tal\, n. 1. A property which is not essential; a nonessential; anything happening accidentally. He conceived it just that accidentals . . . should sink with the substance of the accusation. --Fuller. 2. pl. (Paint.) Those fortuitous effects produced by luminous rays falling on certain objects so that some parts stand forth in abnormal brightness and other parts are cast into a deep shadow. 3. (Mus.) A sharp, flat, or natural, occurring not at the commencement of a piece of music as the signature, but before a particular note.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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