Contingency Definition & Meaning

American

British

Etymology

Examples

Related Words

Synonyms contingency American [kuhn-tin-juhn-see] / kənˈtɪn dʒən si /

noun

plural

contingencies

1. dependence on chance or on the fulfillment of a condition; uncertainty; fortuitousness.

   Nothing was left to contingency.

2. a contingent event; a chance, accident, or possibility conditional on something uncertain.

   He was prepared for every contingency.

   Synonyms: predicament, likelihood, emergency

3. something incidental to a thing.

contingency British / kənˈtɪndʒənsɪ /

noun

1. 1. a possible but not very likely future event or condition; eventuality

   2. ( as modifier )

      a contingency plan

2. something dependent on a possible future event

3. a fact, event, etc, incidental to or dependent on something else

4. 1. modification of the meaning of a main clause by use of a bound clause introduced by a binder such as if, when, though, or since Compare adding

   2. ( as modifier )

      a contingency clause

5. logic

   1. the state of being contingent

   2. a contingent statement

6. dependence on chance; uncertainty

7. statistics

   1. the degree of association between theoretical and observed common frequencies of two graded or classified variables. It is measured by the chi-square test

   2. ( as modifier )

      a contingency table

      the contingency coefficient

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of contingency

First recorded in 1555–65; conting(ent) + -ency

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Perform meticulous research and try to have a contingency for all possible scenarios.

From Los Angeles Times

Their contingency fee — typically at least 40% of an award — would have been zero.

From Los Angeles Times

Zoo visitors, it is by no means a surprise to its staff, who have prepared for this moment for years with a slate of contingency plans for every possible scenario.

From Los Angeles Times

"There is no limit to the amount of funding available; it is classified as a contingency payment and is separate from MPs' office costs and staffing budgets," it said.

From BBC

“There are no contingencies, no foreign sovereign wealth funds, and no stock collateral or personal loans. We are a scaled company with a +$400 billion market cap and a strong investment grade balance sheet.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• emergency
• eventuality
• exigency
• probability

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.