occasion

When versatility is fashion's best justification, the idea of a beautiful lace blouse or dress that can step up to a special occasion and then look just as good under a man-tailored jacket or a fine-gauge long-line cardigan the next day is persuasive. —S. Mower, Vogue, September 2008

On several occasions, people have observed dark, kilometer-wide bands on the ocean surface as tsunamis approached or passed by … —S. Perkins, Science News, 21 Feb. 2004

Not so long ago, Rolling Stone's David Fricke asked the late Kurt Cobain whom he admired among “established” rock bands. Cobain unhesitatingly named R.E.M., using the occasion to send the band members a virtual mash note for remaining true to their muse and to themselves and for refusing to be swayed by the shifting winds of fashion and commerciality. —Robert Palmer, Rolling Stone, 6 Oct. 1994

To publish a definitive collection of short stories in one's late 60s seems to me, as an American writer, a traditional and a dignified occasion, eclipsed in no way by the fact that a great many of the stories in my current collection were written in my underwear. —John Cheever, in Ann Charters, The Story and Its Writer, 1987

birthdays, anniversaries, and other special occasions

They marked the occasion with their families.

She wrote a song especially for the occasion.

Roses are the perfect flower for any occasion.

On the occasion of their 25th wedding anniversary, they took a vacation to Paris.

We had occasion to watch her perform last summer.

The boys never had occasion to meet each other.

She never found an occasion to suggest her ideas.

He took the occasion to make an announcement.

It was that desire that occasioned a trip to Berlin this spring: a desire to wander through the city's arty demimonde and to eat beside its residents … —Sam Sifton, New York Times, 22 June 2008

“I made bow ties,” Sally says very assuredly, after the long silence occasioned by my unwanted kiss, during which we both realized we are not about to head upstairs for any fun. —Richard Ford, Independence Day, 1996

the announcement concerning the change in scheduling occasioned much confusion