ACCIDENTAL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does accidental mean? 

• ACCIDENTAL (noun)
  The noun ACCIDENTAL has 1 sense:

1. a musical notation that makes a note sharp or flat or natural although that is not part of the key signature

  Familiarity information: ACCIDENTAL used as a noun is very rare.

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

1. happening by chance or unexpectedly or unintentionally

2. not of prime or central importance

  Familiarity information: ACCIDENTAL used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ACCIDENTAL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A musical notation that makes a note sharp or flat or natural although that is not part of the key signature

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

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

musical notation ((music) notation used by musicians)

• ACCIDENTAL (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Happening by chance or unexpectedly or unintentionally

Synonyms:

accidental; inadvertent

Context example:

an accidental shooting

Similar:

unintended (not deliberate)

Derivation:

accident (anything that happens suddenly or by chance without an apparent cause)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Not of prime or central importance

Synonyms:

accidental; incidental; nonessential

Context example:

the character's motives remain accidental to the plot

Similar:

inessential; unessential (not basic or fundamental)

 Context examples 

It also refers to the accidental breathing in of food or fluid into the lungs.

(Aspirate, NCI Dictionary)

Also, the accidental breathing in of food or fluid into the lungs.

(Aspiration, NCI Dictionary)

When you have food allergies, you must be prepared to treat an accidental exposure.

(Food Allergy, NIH: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)

An accidental circumstance cemented the intimacy between Steerforth and me, in a manner that inspired me with great pride and satisfaction, though it sometimes led to inconvenience.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

She seems somehow more reconciled; or else the very subject seems to have become repugnant to her, for when any accidental allusion is made she actually shudders.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

Mr. Bingley had not been of age two years, when he was tempted by an accidental recommendation to look at Netherfield House.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

The discovery about the caterpillar’s hunger for plastic was accidental, said Bertocchini, adding that the plastic bags containing the wax worms “became riddled with holes.”

(Plastic Eating Worm Could Help Ease Pollution, VOA)

Well, since you never said so, and Mr. Phelps never said so, and nobody else knew anything of the matter, then the thief’s presence in the room was purely accidental.

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

Before we start to investigate that, let us try to realize what we do know, so as to make the most of it, and to separate the essential from the accidental.

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

Some complications are infection, too much bleeding, reaction to anesthesia, or accidental injury.

(After Surgery, Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research)