encounter

1 of 2

verb

en·coun·ter in-ˈkau̇n-tər

en-

encountered; encountering in-ˈkau̇n-t(ə-)riŋ

en-

Synonyms of encounter next

transitive verb

: to meet as an adversary or enemy

: to engage in conflict with

: to come upon face-to-face

: to come upon or experience especially unexpectedly

encounter difficulties

intransitive verb

: to meet especially by chance

encounter

2 of 2

noun

: a meeting between hostile factions or persons : a sudden often violent clash

an encounter between the police and demonstrators

: a chance meeting

an accidental encounter

: a particular kind of meeting or experience with another person

a romantic encounter

: a coming into the vicinity of a celestial body

the Martian encounter of a spacecraft

Example Sentences

Verb We encountered problems early in the project. The pilot told us that we might encounter turbulence during the flight. Her suggestion has encountered a lot of opposition. Noun a chance encounter with a famous writer The tour boat had a close encounter with a breeching humpback whale. There was a violent encounter between fans of the opposing teams. It was her first encounter with cigarettes. See More

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

The title Power, Corruption & Lies seemed to promise that anyone who encountered it would never be fooled again. —

Armond White, National Review, 14 June 2023 By gently stimulating the brain’s frontal lobe (part of the neocortex) in sync with the electrical waves of the hippocampus during sleep, the team improved the accuracy of recognition memory—the ability to recognize things previously encountered—in patients with epilepsy. —

WIRED, 14 June 2023 This period-correct color is a refreshing change from the usual red, white, silver, or even yellow that one typically encounters on Dinos. —

Robert Ross, Robb Report, 13 June 2023 The shorts, which keep the spirit and jam-packed music of the movies, find the friends encountering new monsters, while dealing with school and new experiences like a never-ending summer time loop. —

Marta Balaga, Variety, 13 June 2023 Visitors might also encounter birds, squirrels and chipmunks. —

Michael Salerno, The Arizona Republic, 8 June 2023 Koch said the foundation has not yet encountered such a situation. —

Tim Carman, Washington Post, 7 June 2023 Over the skies of Vietnam, instead, pilots encountered fast flying and turning fighters. —

Kelsey D. Atherton, Popular Science, 7 June 2023 As possible record-setting crowds fill airports nationwide, passengers may encounter new technology at the security line. —

Kris Van Cleave, CBS News, 5 June 2023

Noun

In the months since, the two sides have clashed over Taiwan, Ukraine and a series of dangerous encounters between the Chinese and American militaries. —

John Hudson, Washington Post, 14 June 2023 The problem is that there are just too many of these large-scale encounters. —

Brandon Widder, The Verge, 14 June 2023 The incident was just the latest in a series of close encounters with sharks for local beachgoers. —

Warren Kulo | Wkulo@al.com, al, 13 June 2023 During such encounters, only certain officers are assigned the role of cover officers. —

Libor Jany, Los Angeles Times, 9 June 2023 Sadie Stanley and Griffin Gluck had a serendipitous encounter before their leading roles on Cruel Summer season 2. —

Daniela Avila, Peoplemag, 6 June 2023 They were both removed from the show, but not before the entire encounter was captured by other fans and posted online. —

Larisha Paul, Rolling Stone, 5 June 2023 Hospitals turn to Nuance Communications’ technology, which automatically generates medical documentation from audio recorded during patient encounters, to reduce the burden on overworked clinicians. —

Mario Aguilar Reprints, STAT, 1 June 2023 At issue is an encounter that occurred last year shortly before graduation, according to the lawsuit, which was filed last week in Tulsa County against Broken Arrow Public Schools and two district employees by attorneys representing the student, Lena’ Black. —

Nicole Chavez, CNN, 26 May 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'encounter.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Middle English encountren, from Anglo-French encuntrer, from Medieval Latin incontrare, from Late Latin incontra toward, from Latin in- + contra against — more at counter

First Known Use

Verb

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Noun

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler

The first known use of encounter was in the 14th century

See more words from the same century