English Dictionary

INCUR (incurred, incurring)

Pronunciation (US): Play  (GB): Play

IPA (US): 

Irregular inflected forms: incurred  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation, incurring  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation

 Dictionary entry overview: What does incur mean? 

INCUR (verb)
  The verb INCUR has 2 senses:

1. make oneself subject to; bring upon oneself; become liable toplay

2. receive a specified treatment (abstract)play

  Familiarity information: INCUR used as a verb is rare.


 Dictionary entry details 


INCUR (verb)

 Conjugation: 
Present simple: I / you / we / they incur  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation ... he / she / it incurs  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation
Past simple: incurred  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation
Past participle: incurred  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation
-ing form: incurring  Listen to US pronunciation  Listen to GB pronunciation


Sense 1

Meaning:

Make oneself subject to; bring upon oneself; become liable to

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Context example:

People who smoke incur a great danger to their health

Hypernyms (to "incur" is one way to...):

subject (cause to experience or suffer or make liable or vulnerable to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "incur"):

run (be affected by; be subjected to)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

incurrence (the act of incurring (making yourself subject to something undesirable))

incurring (acquiring or coming into something (usually undesirable))

incursion (the mistake of incurring liability or blame)


Sense 2

Meaning:

Receive a specified treatment (abstract)

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

find; get; incur; obtain; receive

Context example:

I got nothing but trouble for my good intentions

Hypernyms (to "incur" is one way to...):

change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)

Verb group:

acquire; get (come into the possession of something concrete or abstract)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "incur"):

take (ascertain or determine by measuring, computing or take a reading from a dial)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s


 Context examples 


I had reason to believe that in accomplishing these failures we incurred a far greater expense than if we had achieved a series of triumphs.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

The Sun in Pisces will be conjunct Neptune, suggesting some confusion or missing information, especially about the budget or costs that might be incurred later.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

In marrying a man indifferent to me, all risk would have been incurred, and all duty violated.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

"It isn't made or trimmed," sighed Meg, faintly, for a sudden recollection of the cost still to be incurred quite overwhelmed her.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Costs that are incurred for common or joint expenses at an institution by grant or contract activities which cannot be specifically identified with a particular user.

(Facilities and Administrative Costs, NCI Thesaurus)

But the feelings which made such composure a disgrace, left her in no danger of incurring it.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

He was too discreet and cautious a man to incur Wolf Larsen’s anger at a time when that anger could be expressed in terms stronger than words.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Alas! I am unclean to His eyes, and shall be until He may deign to let me stand forth in His sight as one of those who have not incurred His wrath.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

He felt that the ill done White Fang was a debt incurred by man and that it must be paid.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

When an injury is incurred in the nervous system, this can give rise to a very specific condition known as neuropathic pain.

(Genetic study paves way for new neuropathic pain treatments, University of Granada)



 Learn English with... Proverbs 
"If you want a thing done well, do it yourself." (English proverb)

"The more you know, the less you need." (Aboriginal Australian proverbs)

"Beware of he whose goodness you can't ask for for and whose evil you can't be protected from." (Arabic proverb)

"If a caged bird isn't singing for love, it's singing in a rage." (Corsican proverb)



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