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window of opportunity

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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WOTD – 16 February 2023

Etymology

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Popularized by its use by the United States Government in the 1970s in reference to the Cold War (1945–1991).[1]

Pronunciation

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Noun

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window of opportunity (plural windows of opportunity)

  1. (originally US) A (usually limited) period of time in which suitable action can achieve success.
    • 1999, Stephen Van Evera, “Power Shifts: Windows of Opportunity and Vulnerability”, in Causes of War: Power and the Roots of Conflict, Ithaca, N.Y., London: Cornell University Press, →ISBN, page 102:
      U.S. officials also thought a preventive war [against the Soviet Union] would be costly, and U.S. allies would be disapproving. Thus U.S. leaders saw a fading window of opportunity, but the opportunity was not very attractive; it would not be followed by vulnerability; and it probably would not be followed by a war.
    • 2008, Wally Lamb, The Hour I First Believed, Ch.3, at p.59:
      The EMTs had given Lolly magnesium on the ride in, Dr. Salazar said, and that had put the injury in "slo-mo." And with stroke victims, "time was brain," she said; the quicker there was treatment, the better the odds of avoiding permanent damage. "When she got here, we gave her a clot-buster called tPA. Great drug if the patient gets it in time―acts like Drano on clogged arteries―but the operative word here is if. Time-wise, there's only a small window of opportunity. When the blood supply's cut off, brain cells begin to die. I think you'd better prepare yourself for the fact that your aunt will most likely have an altered life."
      "Altered how?"
      "Too soon to tell. We'll know more in the next forty-eight to seventy-two hours."
    • 2013 September 20, Marina Hyde, “Is the pope Catholic?”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian‎[1], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-08-15:
      The Lord moves in mysterious ways – though not a thousandth as mysterious as those of his senior personnel from time to time – so there is no earthly possibility of predicting how long the window of opportunity enjoyed by Pope Francis is likely to be.
    • 2022 September 14, Arthur Neslen, quoting Noam Chomsky, “Health groups call for global fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty”, in Katharine Viner, editor, The Guardian‎[2], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2022-12-22:
      There is a narrow window of opportunity to save ourselves, and the innumerable other species that we are destroying with reckless abandon. There is still time to rid ourselves of fossil fuels, not much. We will grasp the opportunity, or the human experiment will come to an inglorious end.

Usage notes

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  • The term is often used with forms of the word open or close to indicate the availability of an appropriate time for action.[1]

Alternative forms

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Translations

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Translations

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 “window of opportunity, n.” under “window, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2022; “window of opportunity, phrase”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

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