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''contingency'' ▫ᴱᴺ Entries

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''contingency'' ▫ᴱᴺ｜Definition｜1st｜20260331180822-00-⌔

contingency - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

Noun

contingency (countable and uncountable, plural contingencies)

  • (uncountable) The quality of being contingent, of happening by chance. [from 1560s]
    • ✤ Synonyms: possibility, unpredictability; see also Thesaurus: option
    • ✤ Antonyms: inevitability, impossibility
  • (countable) A possibility; something which may or may not happen. A chance occurrence, especially in finance, unexpected expenses. [from 1610s]
    • ✤ Synonyms: see Thesaurus: possibility
    • ✤ Antonyms: see Thesaurus: impossibility
    • ✤ There was also the imperative necessity of creating a reserve fund for unforeseen contingencies, and the question ever present was how was money to be found.1
    • ✤ In light of the inherent survival threat posed by zombies and absent specified guidance for detailed planning to address such a contingency, USSTRATCOM has taken the initiative to develop a JOPES Level 3 plan (CONPLAN) consistent with guidance derived from other specified planning efforts to ensure U.S. and Allied freedom of action from zombie domination.2
  • (finance, countable) An amount of money which a party to a contract has to pay to the other party (usually the supplier of a major project to the client) if they do not fulfill the contract according to the specification.
  • (logic, countable) A statement which is neither a tautology nor a contradiction.
    • ✤ Coordinate terms: contradiction, tautology

Etymology

From contingence +‎ -y (16th century).

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kənˈtɪnd͡ʒənsi/
  • Audio (Southern England): 🔊

Printed 2026-06-28.

(echo:: @ ⌗)

Footnotes

  1. 1909, John Claude White, Sikhim and Bhutan, page 29: ↩

  2. 2011 April 30, United States Strategic Command, CONPLAN 8888-11 “COUNTER-ZOMBIE DOMINANCE” ‎ (PDF), archived from the original on 15 March 2023, SITUATION: ↩

Link to original

Secondary

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