incident
incident — adjective
1. describes a ray of light, a wave, or a moving object that meets or strikes a sur
describes a ray of light, a wave, or a moving object that meets or strikes a surface.
The incident light hits the water at an angle, and some of it bends downward.
collocation: incident light
Valentina measured the angle between the incident ray and the mirror in the lab.
collocation: incident ray
Part of the incident wave bounces back while the rest passes through the glass.
The teacher showed how to draw the incident beam hitting a curved lens.
- incoming
less precise, describes something moving toward a point rather than striking a surface
- falling upon
descriptive phrase, not a single-word synonym; more general
文法句型
incident + noun
用法筆記
Always used before a noun (attributive). Most common in physics contexts with words like 'light', 'ray', 'wave', or 'beam'. Outside technical writing, this sense is very rare.
常見錯誤
incident — noun
1. a particular event, especially one that is unusual, unpleasant, or serious — for
a particular event, especially one that is unusual, unpleasant, or serious — for example, a fight, a crime, a diplomatic dispute, or anything else out of the ordinary that people take note of.
Anjali reported the incident to the school office after someone broke her locker.
report an incident
The border incident between the two countries nearly led to a military response.
incident between [nations]
Hiro told the team the theft was an isolated incident and would not happen again.
A strange incident at the night market made every stall light go out at once.
Police are investigating the incident that left two cars damaged near the bridge.
- event
more neutral; does not carry the negative tone that 'incident' often does
- occurrence
more formal and factual; common in written reports
- episode
one event within a longer sequence or series
- happening
less formal; suggests something out of the ordinary
- non-event
something anticlimactic or unremarkable; informal
文法句型
incident + of + noun
adjective + incident
incident + between + noun
用法筆記
Distinguish from accident: an incident can be intentional (a fight, a robbery) or unintentional (a power failure), whereas an accident is always unintentional and usually involves harm or damage.
常見錯誤
2. used only in the fixed phrase 'without incident' to say that an activity happene
used only in the fixed phrase 'without incident' to say that an activity happened smoothly, with no trouble, unusual events, or problems.
The concert ended without incident, and the crowd left the stadium calmly.
fixed phrase: without incident
Despite the typhoon warning, the plane landed without incident at Taoyuan Airport.
The night guard at the bank completed his shift without incident and went home.
Rania hoped the family dinner would pass without incident, but the argument started anyway.
- smoothly
adverb; can replace 'without incident' in most contexts
- uneventfully
adverb; slightly more formal, emphasizes nothing unusual occurred
- with difficulty
general opposite; describes an event that had problems
文法句型
verb + without incident
用法筆記
This sense only occurs in the fixed phrase 'without incident'. You cannot replace the phrase with 'no incident' or 'without incidents'. The expression is neutral and simply reports that nothing notable — good or bad — happened.