contingency
noun/kənˈtɪndʒənsi/
/kənˈtɪndʒənsi/
[countable, uncountable] (plural contingencies)
- an event that may or may not happen; the fact that events are not certain synonym possibility
- We must consider all possible contingencies.
- to make contingency plans (= plans for what to do if a particular event happens or does not happen)
- a contingency fund (= to pay for something that might happen in the future)
- The contingency of life is part of the human condition.
Oxford Collocations DictionaryContingency is used before these nouns:- fee
- fund
- plan
- …
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- a sum of money that you keep for additional payments
- What's the contingency for legal fees?
Word Originmid 16th cent. (in the philosophical sense): from late Latin contingentia (in its medieval Latin sense ‘circumstance’), from contingere ‘befall’, from con- ‘together with’ + tangere ‘to touch’.
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contingency