contingency

UK: /kənˈtɪndʒ^ənsi/ US: /kənˈtɪndʒənsi/ ,(kən tin′jən sē)

Inflections of 'contingency' (n): npl: contingencies

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

con•tin•gen•cy /kənˈtɪndʒənsi/   n. [countable] , pl. -cies. 

1. a chance or possibility that might occur:
   They were prepared with a plan for every contingency.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

con•tin•gen•cy  (kən tin′jən sē), n., pl. -cies. 

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.
3. something incidental to a thing.

• conting(ent) + -ency 1555–65

Synonyms

• 2. . emergency, likelihood, predicament.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

contingency / kənˈtɪndʒənsɪ/ noun ( -cies)

1. a possible but not very likely future event or condition; eventuality
2. (as modifier): a contingency plan
3. something dependent on a possible future event
4. a fact, event, etc, incidental to or dependent on something else
5. (in systemic grammar) (as modifier): a contingency clause
6. the state of being contingent
7. a contingent statement
8. dependence on chance; uncertainty
9. the degree of association between theoretical and observed common frequencies of two graded or classified variables. It is measured by the chi-square test
10. (as modifier): a contingency table, the contingency coefficient