INCIDENT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does incident mean? 

• INCIDENT (noun)
  The noun INCIDENT has 2 senses:

1. a single distinct event

2. a public disturbance

  Familiarity information: INCIDENT used as a noun is rare.

• INCIDENT (adjective)
  The adjective INCIDENT has 2 senses:

1. falling or striking of light rays on something

2. (sometimes followed by 'to') minor or casual or subordinate in significance or nature or occurring as a chance concomitant or consequence

  Familiarity information: INCIDENT used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INCIDENT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A single distinct event

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Hypernyms ("incident" is a kind of...):

happening; natural event; occurrence; occurrent (an event that happens)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "incident"):

cause celebre (an incident that attracts great public attention)

contagion; infection; transmission (an incident in which an infectious disease is transmitted)

scene (an incident (real or imaginary))

sideshow (a subordinate incident of little importance relative to the main event)

Holonyms ("incident" is a part of...):

episode (a happening that is distinctive in a series of related events)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A public disturbance

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Context example:

the police investigated an incident at the bus station

Hypernyms ("incident" is a kind of...):

commotion; disruption; disturbance; flutter; hoo-ha; hoo-hah; hurly burly; kerfuffle; to-do (a disorderly outburst or tumult)

• INCIDENT (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Falling or striking of light rays on something

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Context example:

incident light

Pertainym:

incidence (the striking of a light beam on a surface)

Derivation:

incidence (the striking of a light beam on a surface)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(sometimes followed by 'to') minor or casual or subordinate in significance or nature or occurring as a chance concomitant or consequence

Synonyms:

incident; incidental

Context example:

confusion incidental to a quick change

Similar:

omissible (capable of being left out)

parenthetic; parenthetical (qualifying or explaining; placed or as if placed in parentheses)

peripheral (related to the key issue but not of central importance)

secondary (depending on or incidental to what is original or primary)

 Context examples 

The consideration of occupation as a variable in disease incident, transmission, and control.

(Epidemiology, Occupation, NCI Thesaurus)

The consideration of tobacco, alcohol, or drug use as variables in disease incident, transmission, and control.

(Epidemiology, Tobacco, Alcohol, Drugs, NCI Thesaurus)

The journey may have had incidents; I was, however, too eager to get on, to care for them.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

The consideration of naturally occurring body factors as a variable in disease incident, transmission, and control.

(Endogenous Factors, NCI Thesaurus)

The consideration of dietary factors as a variable in disease incident, transmission, and control.

(Dietary Factors, NCI Thesaurus)

The individual responses from the nanowire sections can then be directly fed into a computer algorithm to reconstruct the incident light spectrum.

(Nanowires replace Newton’s famous glass prism, University of Cambridge)

The consideration of chemical factors as a variable in disease incident, transmission, and control.

(Chemical Agents, NCI Thesaurus)

Environmental factors considered as variables in disease incident, transmission, and control.

(Exogenous Factors, NCI Thesaurus)

With due discretion the incident itself may, however, be described, since it serves to illustrate some of those qualities for which my friend was remarkable.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A static light scattering technique involving measurement of the amount of light scattered by a suspension at multiple angles relative to the incident laser beam.

(Multi-Angle Laser Light Scattering, NCI Thesaurus)