occasion 
oc·ca·sion (ə kā′z̸hən, ō-)
noun
- a favorable time or juncture; opportunity
- a fact, event, or state of affairs that makes something else possible a chance meeting was the occasion of the renewal of their friendship
- a cause or reason you have no occasion to be angry
- a happening; occurrence
- the time at which something happens; particular time on the occasion of our last meeting
- a special time or event, suitable for celebration
- need arising from circumstances
- Obsolete needs; requirements
- Archaic affairs; business
Etymology: ME occasioun < OFr < L occasio, accidental opportunity, fit time < occasus, pp. of occidere, to fall < ob- (see ob-) + cadere, to fall: see case
transitive verb
to be the occasion of; give occasion to; cause
on occasion
once in a while; sometimes; occasionally
rise to the occasion
to do whatever suddenly becomes necessary; meet an emergency
take (the) occasion
to use the opportunity (to do something)
occasion
n.
An event
occurrence, incident, happening; see event 1, 2.An opportunity
chance, excuse, opening; see opportunity 1, possibility 2.A time
An (immediate) cause
prompting, incident, antecedent; see cause 1, 3, circumstance 1.
on occasion
on the occasion of
rise to the occasion
take the occasion
Object
- loss: We will not, therefore, accept responsibility for any loss occasioned by reliance on the contents hereof.
Converse of object
- celebrate: This was followed by a formal dinner to celebrate the occasion where CWO Callan was seated next to the Air Commodore!
- commemorate: Some of his former pupils are recording a CD to commemorate the occasion.
- mark: To mark the special occasion we were honored by the presence of Queen Victoria herself!
- suit: The priest will adapt the ceremony to suit the occasion.
- recall: Roster interviewed 186 people who were able to recall a recent occasion when they gave someone a present that they clearly didn't like.
- remember: I clearly remember the occasion of the prefects photograph.
Adjective modifier
- rare: You no longer take showers even on the rare occasion there is hot water.
- special: To mark the special occasion we were honored by the presence of Queen Victoria herself!
- numerous: The contract of care was broken on numerous occasions.
- memorable: To round off a memorable occasion, event caterers Crumbs served guests with a splendid fork supper.
- several: On several occasions, House Speaker Tip O'Neill received 5 million pieces of mail in a single day.. .
- momentous: In the authentic ambiance it was a momentous occasion to look back to the future.
Modifies a noun
- bennett: Occasions bennett explains not for their d in the.
Noun used with modifier
- gift-giving: Price: £ 1.09 Acid Free - Pressies 15 pressies for all gift-giving occasions.
- dozen: The ropes tying some horses in the truck broke on at least a dozen occasions.
Preposition: in
- past: I thought you were trying to make a fool of me, as you have on several occasions in the past.
Preposition: of
- anniversary: Speer and He will be screened on German television in the spring, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Hitler's death.
- celebration: The collaboration with Lord Norman Foster began with the project for the North Greenwich Transport Interchange in London on occasion of the Millenium celebrations.
Preposition: for
- celebration: The news that unemployment is moving below one million for the first time since the 1970s should be an occasion for celebration.
Yet once more,O ye laurels, and once more Ye myrtles brown, with ivy never-sere I come to pluck your berries harsh and crude, And with forc'd fingers rude, Shatter your leaves before the mellowing year. Bitter constraint, and sad occasion dear, Compels me to disturb your season due For Lycidas is dead, dead ere his prime Young Lycidas, and hath not left his peer.
It is this tendency to play with manic enthusiasm on every possible occasion that distinguishes the amateur jazz musician from the professional, often to the public detriment of the latter, who are regarded as snootyand unfriendly.
There is something in the unselfish and self-sacrificing love of a brute, which goes directly to the heart of him who has had frequent occasion to test the paltry friendship and gossamer fidelity of mere Man.
[Lord Rosebery] was a man who never missed an occasion to let slip an opportunity.
Sir, there isno Levitical degreesbetween nations, and on this occasion I can see neither sin nor shame in marrying our own sister.
The man whose life is spent in performing a few simple operations of which the effects too are, perhaps, always the same or very nearly the same, has no occasion to exert his understanding, or to exercise his invention. He generally becomes asstupidand ignorant asit ispossible for a human creature to become.
An occasion, catalyst, or tripwirepermits the poet to reach into herself and haul up whatever nugget of the human condition distracts her at the moment, something that can't be reached in any other way.
Fate,Time,Occasion,Chance, and Change? To these All things are subject but eternal love.
Stalinthat great lover of peace, a man of giant stature who moulded, as few other men have done, the destinies of his age The occasion is not merely the passing away of a great figure but perhaps the ending of an historic era.
Browse dictionary entries near occasion
- occasional ›
- occasionalism ›
- occasionally ›
- occident ›
- occidental ›
- Occidentalism ›
- Occidentalize ›
- occipital ›
- occipital bone ›
- occiput ›
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