Meaning of event in English

event

noun [ C ]

/ɪˈvent/ us

/ɪˈvent/

Add to word list Add to word list

anything that happens, especially something important or unusual:

sporting event This year's Olympic Games will be the biggest ever sporting event.

sports event This year's Olympic Games will be the biggest ever sports event.

social event Susannah's party was the social event of the year.

series of events The police are trying to determine the series of events that led up to the murder.

Synonyms

episode (EVENT)
happening 
incident 
occurrence (HAPPENING)

one of a set of races or competitions:

The women's 200 metre event will be followed by the men's 100 metres.

in the event UK

used to emphasize that what happened was not what you expected:

We had expected to arrive an hour late, but in the event we were early.

in the event of something

if something happens:

In the event of a strike, the army will take over responsibility for firefighting.

in any event C1 (UK also at all events)

whatever happens:

I might go home next month, but in any event, I'll be home for Christmas.

in either event

in either of two situations:

I can't decide whether to accept the New York or the Chicago job, but in either event I'll have to move.

in that event

if that happens:

There's a possibility of my flight being delayed. In that event I'll phone to let you know.

More examplesFewer examples

The summer fête will be the school's main fundraising event this year.
The event got off to a shaky start with the stage lights failing in the first few minutes.
Television camera crews broadcast the event all round the world.
A committee has been set up to organize social events in the college.
The police are trying to determine the series of events that led up to the murder.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Events and occurrences

See more results »

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Athletics

Parts & stages of competitions

(Definition of event from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

event | American Dictionary

event

noun [ C ]

/ɪˈvent/

Add to word list Add to word list

anything that happens, esp. something important or unusual:

sporting events

a charity/fundraising event

political/world events

She later gave me her version of events.

mathematics

An event is also one particular group of outcomes (= results) among all possible outcomes when experimenting with probability (= the likelihood of something happening).

An event is also one of a set of races or competitions:

the women’s 200-meter event

Idioms

in any event

in the event of something

(Definition of event from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

event | Business English

event

noun [ C ]

/ɪˈvent/ us

Add to word list Add to word list

an activity that is planned for a special purpose and usually involves a lot of people, for example, a meeting, party, trade show, or conference:

manage/plan/organize an event The marketing team is organizing an event for their new product launch.

a promotional/publicity/marketing event

industry/trade/corporate events

See also

event management
event manager
event marketing
event planning

(Definition of event from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of event

event

Patients in this sample described two different events leading up to diagnosis.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The inherent spontaneity of basic events (sometimes called ' actual occasions') is not necessarily a matter of conscious choice.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The combination of the significant physical events forms a feature state space.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

They communicate with each other only when specific events occur.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Real-time systems must respond accurately to internal and external events.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Do events and processes just happen to obey those laws phenomenologically ?

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The state of the world today is a result of innumerable past natural events, most of which were probably quite insignificant at the time.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Miraculous events, having once occurred, become part of the universe upon which the laws of nature operate.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

We may also question the strength of the analogy between a library and the set of events comprising the universe's history.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The occurrence of such miraculous events, although entirely determined by the initial conditions of the universe, cannot be rendered predictable by human observers.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Consequently, what we know is conditioned both by past events and by where we stand at any moment with respect to those events.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Semiexperimental evidence consists of reports of similar events that occur repeatedly, but cannot be obtained at will.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

What is the causal story behind these events ?

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The text is organised into five parts, taking the reader through the sequence of events leading to successful parasitism.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The rate of parasite development and the timing of migratory events on the host were influenced by water temperature.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

See all examples of event

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.