- [countable]
an unpleasant event, especially in a vehicle, that happens unexpectedly and causes injury or damage （交通）事故；意外遭遇；不测事件 a car/road/traffic accident 车祸；公路事故；交通事故 - in an accident
He was killed in an accident. 他死于车祸。 One in seven accidents is caused by sleepy drivers. 每七次交通事故就有一次是驾驶员困倦造成的。 The accident happened at 3 p.m. 事故发生于下午 3 点钟。 to have an accident 出事故 a serious/minor accident 严重／轻微事故 a fatal accident (= in which somebody is killed) 死亡事故 Every year in the United Kingdom more than 4 000 people die in accidents in the home. 在英国，每年有4 000多人死于家庭事故。 a climbing/riding accident 登山／骑马意外 Take out accident insurance before you go on your trip. 你去旅行前要办理好意外保险。 I didn't mean to break it—it was an accident. 我不是故意打碎它的，这是个意外。 Their boat sank in a freak accident. 他们的船在一起反常的意外事故中沉没了。 His son died in a tragic cycling accident. 他的儿子死于一场悲惨的自行车事故。 There are a number of accident blackspots (= places where lots of accidents happen) on that road. 那条路上有许多事故多发点。 We don't know the cause of the accident. 我们不知道事故的原因。 He was badly injured in a motorcycle accident. 他在一次摩托车事故中受了重伤。
Extra ExamplesTopics Transport by car or lorrya2, Illnessa2He was badly hurt in an accident involving two cars and a lorry. 他在一起两辆汽车和一辆卡车相撞的事故中受了重伤。 She met with an accident while on holiday in Spain. 她在西班牙度假期间遇到了一起事故。 The ambulance took only six minutes to reach the scene of the accident. 救护车只用了 6 分钟就赶到了事故现场。 The woman was involved in a road traffic accident. 这名妇女卷入了一起道路交通事故中。 a fatal road accident 一起致命的道路交通事故 It is the first fatal accident to have occurred at the factory. 这是这家工厂发生的首例死亡事故。 It's Dad. He's had an accident at work. 是爸爸－他工作时发生了意外。 She broke her arm in a riding accident. 她在一次骑马事故中折断了手臂。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- bad
- dreadful
- horrible
- …
- be involved in
- have
- meet with
- …
- happen
- occur
- take place
- …
- black spot
- victim
- prevention
- …
- in an/the accident
- an accident involving
- an accident waiting to happen
- the scene of the accident
- …
- [countable, uncountable]
something that happens unexpectedly and is not planned in advance 意外；偶然的事 Their early arrival was just an accident. 他们早到仅仅是偶然而已。 It is no accident that men fill most of the top jobs in nursing. 男人担任护理中大多数最重要的工作绝非偶然。 an accident of birth/fate/history (= describing facts and events that are due to chance or circumstances) 出生／命运／历史的偶然性
Synonyms luckluck- chance
- coincidence
- accident
- fate
- destiny
- luck the force that causes good or bad things to happen to people:
This ring has always brought me good luck. 这戒指总是给我带来好运。
- chance the way that some things happen without any cause that you can see or understand:
The results could simply be due to chance. 这结果可能纯属意外。
- coincidence the fact of two things happening at the same time by chance, in a surprising way:
They met through a series of strange coincidences. 他们因一连串奇妙的巧合而相遇。
- accident something that happens unexpectedly and is not planned in advance:
Their early arrival was just an accident. 他们早到仅仅是偶然而已。
- fate the power that is believed to control everything that happens and that cannot be stopped or changed:
Fate decreed that she would never reach America. 命中注定她永远到不了美国。
- destiny the power that is believed to control events:
I believe there’s some force guiding us—call it God, destiny or fate. 我认为有某种力量在指引着我们，称之为上帝也罢，天意也罢，或是命运也罢。
fate or destiny? 用 fate 还是 destiny？ - by …luck/chance/coincidence/accident
- It’s no coincidence/accident that…
- pure/sheer luck/chance/coincidence/accident
- to believe in luck/coincidences/fate/destiny
Extra ExamplesIt's just an accident of history that the city became part of the Soviet Union. 这座城市归属苏联纯属历史的偶然。 He claimed that Britain was European only as an accident of geography and that its interests really lay with the United States. 他声称，英国成为欧洲人只是地理上的偶然，它的利益真正在于美国。
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- mere
- pure
- sheer
- …
- by accident
- an accident of birth
- an accident of history
- be no accident that…
- …
Word Originlate Middle English (in the general sense ‘an event’): via Old French from Latin accident- ‘happening’, from the verb accidere, from ad- ‘towards, to’ + cadere ‘to fall’.
Idioms
an accident/a disaster waiting to happen
a thing or person that is very likely to cause danger or a problem in the future because of the condition it is in or the way they behave 隐患 Any one of these nuclear plants may be a disaster waiting to happen. 这些核电厂中的任何一个都可能会成为灾难隐患。
accidents will happen
people say accidents will happen to tell somebody who has had an accident, for example breaking something, that it does not matter and they should not worry 出事是难免的
by accident
in a way that is not planned or organized 偶然；意外地 We met by accident at the airport. 我们在机场不期而遇。 Helen got into acting purely by accident. 海伦当演员完全出于偶然。 It happened, whether by accident or design, that Steve and I were the last two people to leave. 不知是偶然还是事先安排，史蒂夫和我是最后离开的两个人。
a chapter of accidents
- (British English)
a series of unpleasant events caused by bad luck 接二连三的不幸事故；接踵而来的灾祸；祸不单行 The whole affair has been a chapter of accidents from start to finish. 整个事件自始至终麻烦不断。