occasion

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

Opportunity

Nouns — occasion, opportunity, opening, room; circumstance, event, opportuneness; crisis, turn, juncture, psychological moment, conjuncture; turning point; given time; nick of time; chance of a lifetime, golden opportunity, window of opportunity; clear field; spare time, leisure. Informal, new deal. See cause.

Verbs

1. seize or take advantage of an opportunity; suit the occasion; strike while the iron is hot, make hay while the sun shines, take time by the forelock; take the bull by the horns. Informal, cash in on. Slang, get the jump on, jump the gun (see earliness).

2. miss one's opportunity or chance, let slip through one's fingers, have shot one's bolt.

Adjectives — opportune, seasonable; providential, lucky, fortunate, happy, favorable, propitious, auspicious, critical; timely, well-timed; apropos, suitable (see agreement).

Adverbs — opportunely, etc.; in due time, course, or season, in proper time; for the nonce; in the nick of time, in the fullness of time; just in time, at the eleventh hour; now or never; by the way, by the by; en passant, à propos; parenthetically, while on the subject; ex tempore; on the spur of the moment; on the spot (see earliness); when the coast is clear.

Phrases — all is fish that comes to the net; every dog has his day; no time like the present; opportunity never knocks twice at any man's door; when the cat's away, the mice will play.

Quotations — How oft the sight of means to do ill deeds makes ill deeds done! (Shakespeare).

Antonyms, see inexpedience.

II

(Roget's IV) n.

1. [An event]

Syn. occurrence, incident, happening; see event 1 , 2 .

2. [An opportunity]

Syn. chance, excuse, opening; see opportunity 1 , possibility 2 .

3. [A time]

Syn. moment, instant, season; see time 2 .

4. [An (immediate) cause]

Syn. prompting, incident, antecedent; see cause 1 , 3 , circumstance 1 .

• on occasion,

Syn. once in a while, sometimes, occasionally, at certain times; see hardly , seldom .

• on the occasion of,

Syn. at the time when, because of, since; see at 1 , because , on 1 .

• rise to the occasion,

Syn. do what is necessary, meet an emergency, carry on; see succeed 1 .

• take the occasion,

Syn. seize the opportunity, use the opportunity, do something, bring about; see act 1 , use 1 .

v.

Syn. bring about, introduce, do; see cause .

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus)

I

n.

1. event happening, affair, function, happening, incident.

2. opportunity chance, opening, golden opportunity, *shot, *crack.

3. celebration holiday, festival, gala, carnival.

4. time juncture, instance, point, case.

II

v.

cause, give occasion to, produce, bring about, prompt, induce, effect, create, bring to pass.

ANT.: stop, end, quit

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) I noun 1. Something that happens: circumstance, event, happening, incident, occurrence, thing. See HAPPEN. 2. The general point at which an event occurs: time. Idiom: point in time. See TIME. 3. Something significant that happens: circumstance, development, episode, event, happening, incident, news, occurrence, thing. See HAPPEN. 4. A favorable or advantageous combination of circumstances: break, chance, opening, opportunity. Informal: shot. See LUCK. 5. That which produces an effect: antecedent, cause. See START. 6. That which provides a reason or justification: call, cause, ground (often used in plural), justification, necessity, reason, wherefore, why. Idiom: why and wherefore. See START. 7. A large or important social gathering: affair, celebration, festivity, fete, function, gala, party, soiree. Informal: do. Slang: bash. See GROUP, WORK. II verb 1. To be the cause of: bring, bring about, bring on, cause, effect, effectuate, generate, induce, ingenerate, lead to, make, result in, secure, set off, stir1 (up), touch off, trigger. Idioms: bring to pass (or effect), give rise to. See START. 2. To be a proper or sufficient occasion for: call for, justify, warrant. See RIGHT.