Idiom
accident waiting to happen
Meaning
A thing or situation which is almost certain to eventually lead to an accident.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“That broken ladder is an accident waiting to happen.”
“This dark, icy road is an accident waiting to happen.”
“Your loose shoelaces are an accident waiting to happen.”
“The factory floor was cluttered with loose wires and heavy boxes, making it an accident waiting to happen.”
“Leaving your toddler alone in a kitchen full of sharp knives is an accident waiting to happen.”
“The busy intersection has no traffic lights or signs, so it is an accident waiting to happen.”
“The old bridge has several rusted supports and loose planks, so the engineers warned the city that the structure is an accident waiting to happen.”
“By ignoring the structural cracks in the foundation for so many years, the landlord allowed the building to become an accident waiting to happen.”
Examples
simple
“That broken ladder is an accident waiting to happen.”
“This dark, icy road is an accident waiting to happen.”
“Your loose shoelaces are an accident waiting to happen.”
contextual
“The factory floor was cluttered with loose wires and heavy boxes, making it an accident waiting to happen.”
“Leaving your toddler alone in a kitchen full of sharp knives is an accident waiting to happen.”
“The busy intersection has no traffic lights or signs, so it is an accident waiting to happen.”
“The old bridge has several rusted supports and loose planks, so the engineers warned the city that the structure is an accident waiting to happen.”
complex
“By ignoring the structural cracks in the foundation for so many years, the landlord allowed the building to become an accident waiting to happen.”
Origin
The phrase is first recorded in the 1930s. It functions as a routine compound, joining the Middle English *accident*, via Old French from Latin *accidens*, with the present participle of the Middle English *happen*, derived from the noun *hap*.
Key words
Related idioms
- Updated