accidental
adj. chance, fortuitous, lucky, unlucky, serendipitous; undesigned, unpremeditated, uncalculated,
unintended, unintentional, unwitting, inadvertent; unexpected, unplanned, unforeseen, unanticipated,
adventitious; casual, random: Our meeting was entirely accidental.
accommodate
v. 1 fit, suit, adapt, adjust, modify; customize: I shall do my best to accommodate the equipment to your
needs. 2 harmonize, make consistent, reconcile, adapt: It is uncertain whether his version of the incident
can be accommodated to ours.
3 equip, supply, provide, furnish: Can you accommodate me with five pounds till tomorrow? 4 put up,
house, lodge, shelter,
quarter, Military billet: The innkeeper is unable to accommodate us tonight. 5 suit, oblige, convenience,
serve: I was willing to accommodate you by selling your old car.
accommodating
adj. 1 obliging, cooperative, helpful, hospitable; considerate, conciliatory, easy to deal with, pliant,
yielding, compliant, polite, friendly, complaisant, kind, kindly: The lady at the
complaints desk in the store was most accommodating. 2 pliable, accessible, corruptible, subornable, getat-able; bribable: If
you want to get off scot-free, we''ll have to find an accommodating judge.
accommodation
n. 1 adaptation, adjustment, modification, change, alteration, conformation, conformity: Her skilful
accommodation to her boss''s demands kept the peace in the office. 2 settlement, treaty, compromise:
Negotiations were now opened for an
accommodation between the belligerents. 3 convenience, favour: Would you take the mail to the post
office as an accommodation to me? 4 lodging(s), room(s), quarters, shelter, housing;
facility, premises, Brit digs, US accommodations: We were able
to arrange for accommodation at the hotel. Have you seen our new office accommodation? 5 loan,
(financial) assistance or aid;
grant, grant-in-aid: The man was able to obtain an accommodation from his brother-in-law.
accompany v. 1 convoy, escort, chaperon or chaperone, go along with;
attend; usher, squire: Allow me to accompany you to your taxi.
2 go (along) with, come with, be associated with, belong with,
go together with, be linked with: The roast was accompanied by a bottle of claret.
accomplice
n. accessory or accessary, partner in crime, confederate, ally, associate, colleague, fellow, henchman,
collaborator, conspirator, co-conspirator, abettor, assistant,
fellow-criminal, Colloq US cohort: The police arrested the
safe-cracker and three accomplices within hours of the robbery.
accomplish
v. fulfil, perform, achieve, carry out, execute, carry off, do, complete, carry through, finish, effect, bring
to an end, conclude, wind up, end; attain, reach, gain; Colloq bring off, knock off, polish off, Slang pull
off, US swing, hack, cut: I don''t know how she accomplished it, but she sailed around the world singlehanded. Has he accomplished his goal yet?
accomplished
adj. consummate, perfect, expert, adept, skilful, proficient, practised, gifted, talented, skilled,
professional: Did you know that she is also an accomplished flautist?
accomplishment
n. 1 fulfilment, consummation, completion, realization, attainment, achievement, conclusion,
culmination, realization: After the accomplishment of the task they were all taken out to celebrate. 2
coup, feat, exploit, triumph, tour de force: Among her many accomplishments was climbing Mount
Everest. 3 skill, skilfulness, talent, gift, ability: Playing the violin is
another of his accomplishments.
accord v. 1 agree, harmonize, concur, be at one, correspond, agree, be in harmony, be consistent, go
(together), coincide, conform:
His principles and practices do not accord with one another.
--n. 2 agreement, unanimity, concord, reconciliation, harmony, mutual understanding, conformity,
accordance, rapport, concert: The countries are in accord on a beneficial trade balance. 3 agreement,
treaty, pact, contract: The accords will be signed
at the summit meeting in May. 4 agreement, harmony, congruence;
correspondence: The colours of the curtains are in perfect accord with those of the carpet.
accordingly
adv. 1 hence, therefore, consequently, thus, in consequence (where)of, (and) so: Smoking was forbidden;
accordingly, we put out our cigars. 2 suitably, in conformity, in compliance; conformably, appropriately,
compliantly: Dinner-jackets were required, and the men dressed accordingly.
according to
adv.phr. 1 on the authority of, consistent with, in conformity or agreement with, as said or believed or
maintained etc. by:
We are going to play this game according to Hoyle. According to his lawyer, he should never have been
acquitted. 2 conformable to, consistent with, in conformity with, commensurate with: The queen greeted
them in order, according to rank.
account v. 1 account for. explain, give a reason for, give or render a reckoning for, answer for, justify,
reckon for: The treasurer
has been able to account for every penny of expense. His desire to conceal his background accounts for
his secrecy.
--n. 2 calculation, accounting, reckoning, computation, (financial) statement; enumeration: The accounts
show that the company has ample funds in reserve. Williams hasn''t submitted his expense account for the
trip. 3 interest, profit, advantage, benefit, favour; sake: Nigel turned his convalescence to good account
by writing a best seller. Don''t read the book on my account. 4 explanation, statement, description, report,
recital, narrative, history, chronicle: The defendant gave a credible account of his whereabouts at the
time of the crime. 5 consideration, use, worth, importance, consequence, note, value, merit; standing,
significance, estimation, esteem: The
committee decided that length of service is of some account in determining retirement pensions. 6 story,
narration, narrative, report, tale, relation, description: Alice''s account of the
rabbit wearing a waistcoat is unbelievable. 7 take into account or take account of. notice, take note of,
consider, take into consideration, allow for: In passing sentence, the judge took into account the child''s
poverty and the fact that it was Christmas time.
accountability
n. answerability, responsibility, liability, culpability, accountableness: In a democracy, there can be no
reducing the accountability of the government to the citizens.
accountable
adj. answerable, responsible, liable, obliged, obligated: I am accountable to no man, but the greatest man
in England is accountable to me.
accumulate
v. collect, gather, amass, mass, pile or heap up, aggregate, cumulate; assemble, store, stock, hoard,
stockpile, put or lay away: Overnight, the snow accumulated in six-foot drifts about the house. Ill fares
the land, to hast''ning ills a prey,/Where wealth accumulates, and men decay.
accumulation
n. 1 collecting, amassing, gathering, piling or aggregation, heaping up: One effect of the strike was the
accumulation of rubbish in the streets. 2 growth, increase, build-up: The accumulation of wealth has
never proved a valid purpose in life.
3 heap, pile, mass, collection, hoard, store, stockpile, stock, aggregation; assemblage: Our gardener made
sure that there was an ample accumulation of compost.
accuracy n. exactness, correctness, Loosely precision, preciseness: The translation from the Greek has
been accomplished with great accuracy. Rifling the inside of the barrel of a firearm
increases its accuracy.
accurate adj. 1 exact, correct, error-free, precise: She gave an accurate description of the events. There is
a nice distinction between ''accurate'' and ''precise''. 2 careful, meticulous, nice, with an eye to or for detail,
scrupulous, conscientious: Marvin is a very accurate typist. 3 unerring, on target, Colloq on the mark,
spot on (target): This rifle is accurate if you allow for the wind.
accusation
n. charge, allegation, indictment, charge, citation,
arraignment, complaint; imputation, incrimination, denunciation, impeachment: The politician denied the
accusation of having
accepted a bribe.
accuse v. 1 accuse (of or with). blame, censure, hold responsible
(for), charge (with), denounce (for), point the finger (at), cite, call to account: She accused the Knave of
Hearts of lying. 2 accuse (of or with). charge, indict, impeach, arraign, incriminate; attribute, impute: The
prisoner is accused of assault, criminal damage, and disorderly conduct.
accustom v. familiarize, acquaint, habituate, train, season; acclimatize or acclimate: Start off by wearing
your contact lenses for an
hour at a time in order to accustom your eyes to them. She soon accustomed herself to the new
surroundings.
accustomed
adj. 1 customary, habitual, usual, traditional, normal, regular, set, routine, ordinary, familiar, wonted,
common, habituated: The old man took his accustomed place near the fire. 2 used: I''ve grown
accustomed to her face.
ache v. 1 pain, hurt, smart, throb, pound; sting: My jaw has been aching since that tooth was extracted. 2
yearn, long, hunger, hanker, pine; crave: A hostage for a year, he was aching to see his wife and children.
--n. 3 pain, pang, throbbing, pounding, smarting, soreness: I have had this ache in my back, Doctor, and I
can''t stand up straight. 4 pang, pain; distress; longing: There''s been an ache in my heart, my darling, ever
since you went away.
achieve v. 1 accomplish, carry out, execute, succeed in, complete, fulfil, bring off or about; realize,
effect: When the fund reaches its goal, we shall have achieved our purpose. 2 accomplish, attain, reach,
gain, get, acquire, win, obtain: She achieved her ends by cheating and conniving.
achievement
n. 1 attainment, accomplishment, acquisition, acquirement: As he was still in his thirties, the achievement
of great fame
still lay ahead for him. 2 accomplishment, attainment, feat, deed, exploit, victory: The winning of the
Nobel prize was her greatest achievement. 3 fulfilment, realization,
accomplishment, attainment, completion: What virtue lies more
in achievement than in the desire for it?
acknowledge
v. 1 admit, confess, allow, concede, own, recognize, accept,
accede, acquiesce; own up to: We acknowledge that we might have been mistaken. She finally
acknowledged my presence by looking up. 2 answer, reply to, respond to, react to: She couldn''t
possibly acknowledge personally every letter she receives.
acknowledgement
n. 1 acknowledging, confessing, admitting, owning, admission, confession, avowal, affirmation: His
acknowledgement of his involvement in the crime saved the police a great deal of time.
2 approval, acceptance, recognition, allowance: By acknowledgement of the parliament, the king was the
commander of the army and navy. 3 reply, response, answer, recognition: Our acknowledgement will be
in tomorrow''s post.
acme n. peak, apex, top, summit, pinnacle, zenith; climax, culmination: Roger has reached the acme of
perfection as a diamond-cutter.
acquaint n. acquaint with. familiarize with, inform of or about, make aware of, apprise of, advise of: The
management requires employees to acquaint themselves with the safety rules.
acquaintance
n. 1 familiarity, knowledge, acquaintanceship, understanding, awareness; experience: His acquaintance
with the works of Coleridge is sparse at best. 2 associate, fellow, colleague: She''s not a friend of mine,
only an acquaintance.
acquainted
adj. 1 known to each other or one another, familiar with each other or one another, on speaking terms: I
have known Rory for years, but his wife and I are not acquainted. 2 acquainted
with. familiar with, known to, aware of, informed of, knowledgeable of, conversant with: I have studied
trigonometry, but I am not acquainted with calculus.
acquire v. get, obtain, gain, win, earn, procure, secure, come by or into; receive, come into possession of;
buy, purchase: He acquired great wealth by marrying rich old dying widows.
