1An event or occurrence.

1. 1.1A violent event, such as a fracas or assault.
   ‘one person was stabbed in the incident’
   More example sentences

   • ‘The drivers claim they are at risk because of the nature of the job, and say that police have not been responding efficiently to emergency calls following assaults and violent incidents.’
   • ‘Four footballers are facing court cases arising out of two separate alleged incidents involving violent assaults.’
   • ‘Other incidents included violent disturbances, assault on a 23-year-old man, shouting threats to kill and spitting at residents.’
   • ‘Airedale Hospital in rural Steeton, near Keighley, has had nearly 140 reported violent incidents last year, ranging from verbal abuse to actual assault.’
   • ‘The assault was the latest in a series of violent incidents involving bus crews in Yorkshire which has led to a series of suspensions and threatened withdrawals of bus services.’
   • ‘The court heard that there had been two earlier violent incidents before the fatal confrontation.’
   • ‘Most patients were young lads with a Northern Irish accent, usually victims of violent incidents like stone throwing, assaults, or even punishment beatings.’
   • ‘Women have been warned to be on their guard following a spate of violent incidents involving men posing as private hire taxi drivers.’
   • ‘In May, Davie police charged him with domestic violence and aggravated assault after the incident with the hammer.’
   • ‘But most of the incidents were fighting between individuals, minor public order incidents and minor assaults.’
   • ‘Such is the prevalence of workplace violence that an entire industry has sprung up dedicated to predicting violent incidents and attempting to prevent them.’
   • ‘But another resident, who asked not to be named, said she was considering leaving the area after hearing of several unrelated but violent incidents in Portswood and Inner Avenue.’
   • ‘Humberside Police launched the amnesty today in a bid to get the deadly weapons off the streets, and said there had been 84 recorded incidents of violent crime in the area in January and February alone.’
   • ‘The incident happened in the afternoon near the main bus stand in the communally sensitive North Gujarat town, which has witnessed several violent incidents in recent weeks.’
   • ‘Shockingly, even a teacher is listed as a perpetrator in a Yorkshire council's tables, which show a total of 173 racist incidents from name-calling to assault.’
   • ‘They were given unrestricted access to officers and police documentation, and attended events and incidents as they happened.’
   • ‘A few days ago a man was sentenced to death for two separate incidents that occurred about a year ago - deliberately knocking two women off their scooters and trying to steal their bags.’
   • ‘The first incident happened when riot police were called to a ‘serious’ disturbance between rival fans at the pub.’
   • ‘Police are investigating two incidents that occurred within hours of each other on opposite sides of the city.’
   • ‘The woman was left shocked but uninjured after the incident, which happened at about 6.10 pm yesterday.’
   Synonyms

   disturbance, fracas, melee, commotion, rumpus, scene

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2. 1.2A hostile clash between forces of rival countries.
   ‘During the incident, the Japanese force had total control of the skies over Shanghai.’
   More example sentences

   • ‘A CNN crew embedded at ground forces headquarters witnessed the incident.’
   • ‘In recent weeks there have been repeated incidents in which forces have demolished homes believed to belong to members of the resistance.’
   • ‘If the Germans did not like it, they could attack American forces… Everything was to be done to force an incident.’
   • ‘It represents the heaviest loss of British life in a single hostile incident since the war began.’
   Synonyms

   confrontation, skirmish, brush, encounter, engagement, collision, incident, conflict, fight, battle

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3. 1.3incident ofA case or instance of something happening.
   ‘a single incident of rudeness does not support a finding of contemptuous conduct’
   More example sentences

   • ‘There is, for instance, the true incident of a man who was shot in an American nightclub.’
   • ‘Had you heard about this incident of him falling off the roof, and having seizures in the past?’
   • ‘If this was an isolated incident of bad service, it sure happened to the wrong customer.’
   • ‘Mr Loftus said this was the first incident of an apparent breach of planning conditions by the gas terminal developers.’
   • ‘In interview he said he had never before had an incident of under-age sales and confirmed he had received guidance on the sale of fireworks.’
   • ‘He responded to an incident of a man with a .38 revolver terrorizing his neighbors.’
   • ‘What were they about - safety, pay, an incident of disciplinary action?’
   • ‘Insp Alan King said it was the worst incident of large-scale violent behaviour witnessed in the town centre for some months.’
   • ‘With regards to the incident of the phone being disconnected and the handset used for target practice, what would this achieve?’
   • ‘As in previous studies, the single incident of bleeding occurred in an elderly woman.’
   • ‘Killarney Gardai confirmed that an incident of alleged assault was under investigation.’
   • ‘And there is now a reported incident of a problem on a bus at Hackney.’
   • ‘Participants were asked if they had ever experienced any incident of sexual abuse.’
   • ‘She added that every single incident of anti-social behaviour should be reported, no matter how trivial.’
   • ‘That was just an incident of a two friends forgetting who they were for a second.’
   • ‘Reporting of an incident of mass action influences action by another group.’
   • ‘Another incident of a very sensitive nature was relayed to me by a supplier executive.’
   • ‘He recounts the incident of a man who came to beg for food for his starving child.’
   • ‘He said the extra defences were being left in place and condemned the latest incident of a sandbag being removed.’
   • ‘There has not been a single incident of a living Mahogany being uprooted in the area for a long time.’
4. 1.4The occurrence of dangerous or exciting things.
   ‘the winter passed without incident’
   More example sentences

   • ‘The lives of fictional private detectives tend to be action-packed, dangerous and full of incident.’
   • ‘Such anticipation as I had was more pleasure than pain, and the event itself passed without drama or incident.’
   • ‘The first meeting passed off without incident.’
   • ‘It was an hour packed with drama, incident, excitement, courage and endeavour.’
   • ‘The conversation shifted to other topics and the rest of the meal passed without incident.’
   Synonyms

   excitement, adventure, exciting experiences, drama

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1incident topredicative Likely to happen because of; resulting from.

1. 1.1Law Attaching to.
   ‘the costs properly incident to a suit for foreclosure or redemption’
   More example sentences

   • ‘Covenants, obligations and liabilities incident to the estate.’
   • ‘The appellate court reversed, saying the search was lawful because it was incident to the arrest of the passenger.’

2(especially of light or other radiation) falling on or striking something.

1. 2.1Physics Relating to incidence.
   ‘the incident angle’
   More example sentences

   • ‘Note that the incident angle is the angle between the laser beam and the normal to the interface.’
   • ‘The sample chamber could be rotated to alter the incident angle for both reflective and transmissive diffraction.’
   • ‘Compressive force on the platelet, on the other hand, is a function of both the incident angle and shear rate.’
   • ‘The cutoff wavelength of a dichroic mirror is a sensitive function of the incident angle.’
   • ‘Mirror size and shape is based on the diameter of the beam to be reflected, the incident angle, and the required scan angle.’