normal/ordinary course of events
noun phrase
: the way things usually happen
It's something you would never see in the normal/ordinary course of events.
Examples of normal/ordinary course of events in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Image Still, in the normal course of events, the death of a whale does not always signify an end.
—
Sruthi Gurudev Jules Jacobs, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2025
In the normal course of events, this would not warrant transfer.
—Carlos Castañeda, CBS News, 4 Sep. 2024
In the normal course of events, children take it for granted that their parents feed, clothe and educate them.
—Judith Martin, The Mercury News, 27 May 2024
In the normal course of events, this would have led the aging warrior Paul von Hindenburg, Germany’s President, to appoint Hitler Chancellor.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 18 Mar. 2024
No one wants to eat a lot, since there’s too much food in the normal course of events, but the difficulty is, there isn’t much to do apart from eat.
—Nigella Lawson, Vogue, 26 Dec. 2023
In legal contracts, there is a clause called force majeure, which removes liability from unforeseeable and unavoidable catastrophes that may interrupt the normal course of events.
—Andrew Rosen, Forbes, 20 Apr. 2023
In the normal course of events, any token of reward for Mr. Biden would also likely be short-lived.
—WSJ, 18 June 2021
Instead of individual episodes that impinge upon a normal course of events, like bombs lobbed by an angry god, disasters are an ongoing and possibly permanent texture to our lives.
—Emma Marris, The Atlantic, 22 Sep. 2020
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Sruthi Gurudev Jules Jacobs, New York Times, 30 Apr. 2025
In the normal course of events, this would not warrant transfer.
—Carlos Castañeda, CBS News, 4 Sep. 2024
In the normal course of events, children take it for granted that their parents feed, clothe and educate them.
—Judith Martin, The Mercury News, 27 May 2024
In the normal course of events, this would have led the aging warrior Paul von Hindenburg, Germany’s President, to appoint Hitler Chancellor.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 18 Mar. 2024
No one wants to eat a lot, since there’s too much food in the normal course of events, but the difficulty is, there isn’t much to do apart from eat.
—Nigella Lawson, Vogue, 26 Dec. 2023
In legal contracts, there is a clause called force majeure, which removes liability from unforeseeable and unavoidable catastrophes that may interrupt the normal course of events.
—Andrew Rosen, Forbes, 20 Apr. 2023
In the normal course of events, any token of reward for Mr. Biden would also likely be short-lived.
—WSJ, 18 June 2021
Instead of individual episodes that impinge upon a normal course of events, like bombs lobbed by an angry god, disasters are an ongoing and possibly permanent texture to our lives.
—Emma Marris, The Atlantic, 22 Sep. 2020
Cite this Entry
“Normal/ordinary course of events.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/normal%2Fordinary%20course%20of%20events. Accessed 3 Jul. 2025.
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