ADJ
- dreadful, horrific, major, nasty, serious, terrible, tragic, unfortunate
- fatal
- a fatal road accident
- minor, slight
- freak
- Their boat sank in a freak accident
- near (= that nearly happens, but does not)
- hit-and-run
- aircraft, canoeing, car, climbing, flying, industrial, motor, nuclear, road, traffic, etc.
VERB + ACCIDENT
- be involved in, have, meet with
- She met with an accident while on holiday in Spain
- cause
- prevent
- survive
ACCIDENT + VERB
- happen, occur, take place
ACCIDENT + NOUN
- prevention
- rates, statistics
PHRASES
- an accident involving
- He was badly hurt in an accident involving two cars and a lorry
- the scene of the accident
- The ambulance took only six minutes to reach the scene of the accident
ADJ
- pure, sheer
- By pure accident he had come across the very man who could solve the mystery
PREP
- by ~
- We met by accident at the airport
PHRASES
- be no accident that …
- It is no accident that men fill most of the top jobs
- by accident or design
- It happened, whether by accident or design, that Steve and I were the last two people to leave