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design; casual; accidental; hence, not of prime concern; subordinate; collateral; as, an incidental conversation; an incidental occurrence; incidental expenses. By some, religious duties . . . appear to be regarded . . . as an incidental business. Rogers.

Coincident.

Nonessential; not necessary belonging; incidental; as, are accidental to a play. Accidental chords (Mus.), those which contain one or more tones foreign to their proper harmony. -- Accidental colors (Opt.), colors depending on the hypersensibility of the retina of the eye for complementary colors. They are purely subj…

uite over; as, a bridge laid across a river. Dryden. To come across, to come upon or meet incidentally. Freeman. -- To go across the country, to go by a direct course across a region without following the roads.

Anything attached to another as incidental or subordinate to it.

the way; to the purpose; suitably to the place or subject; -- a word used to introduce an incidental observation, suited to the occasion, though not strictly belonging to the narration.

The chemistry of living organisms; the chemistry of the processes incidental to, and characteristic of, life.

path; aside; -- used in composition, giving the meaning of something aside, secondary, or incidental, or collateral matter, a thing private or avoiding notice; as, by-line, by-place, by-play, by-street. It was formerly more freely used in composition than it is now; as, by-business, by-concernment, by- design, by-inter…

A side or incidental blow; an accidental blow. With their by-blows they did split the very stones in pieces. Bunyan.

An incidental or casual speech, not directly relating to the point. "To quote by-speeches." Hooker.

Coming without regularity; occasional; incidental; as, casual expenses. A constant habit, rather than a casual gesture. Hawthorne.

Incidental; relating to, but not essential. We must therefore distinguish between the essentials in religious worship . . . and what is merely circumstantial. Sharp.

Possible, or liable, but not certain, to occur; incidental; casual. Weighing so much actual crime against so much contingent advantage. Burke.

A charge made to students and barristers for incidental repairs of the rooms they occupy. [Eng.]

A meeting face to face; a running against; a sudden or incidental meeting; an interview. To shun the encounter of the vulgar crowd. Pope.

action, introduced for the purpose of giving a greater variety to the events related; an incidental narrative, or digression, separable from the main subject, but naturally arising from it.

Done is due form, or with solemnity; according to regular method; not incidental, sudden or irregular; express; as, he gave his formal consent. His obscure funeral . . . No noble rite nor formal ostentation. Shak.

An incidental or passing thought or allusion. How fleet is a glance of the mind. Cowper.

In a glancing manner; transiently; incidentally; indirectly. Hakewill.

Incidentally. [Obs.]