anything that happens, especially something important or unusual: This year's Olympic Games will be the biggest ever sporting event. Susannah's party was the social event of the year. The police are trying to determine the series of events that led up to the murder. Synonyms episode (EVENT) happening incident occurrence (HAPPENING) B1 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 C1 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 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 (Definition of event from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press) event | American Dictionary event noun [ C ] us /ɪˈvent/ 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 ] uk /ɪˈvent/ us 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 Facts are only determined by real events that can be verified by standard epistemic means, all criteria that these religious facts fail to meet. 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.