encounter

verb

en·coun·ter | \ in-ˈkau̇n-tər

, en-\

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

, en- \

Definition of encounter

(Entry 1 of 2)

transitive verb

1a : to meet as an adversary or enemy

b : to engage in conflict with

2 : to come upon face-to-face

3 : to come upon or experience especially unexpectedly encounter difficulties

intransitive verb

: to meet especially by chance

encounter

noun

Definition of encounter (Entry 2 of 2)

1 : a meeting between hostile factions or persons : a sudden often violent clash an encounter between the police and demonstrators

2a : a chance meeting an accidental encounter

b : a particular kind of meeting or experience with another person a romantic encounter

3 : a coming into the vicinity of a celestial body the Martian encounter of a spacecraft

Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about encounter

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Examples of encounter in a Sentence

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 He's accused of having had sexual encounters with several young women. There was a violent encounter between fans of the opposing teams. It was her first encounter with cigarettes.

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

This actually happens often in children who first encounter a herpes simplex or varicella zoster virus somewhere like the playground. — Kasandra Brabaw, SELF, "So, You Got Semen in Your Eye. Here's What to Do," 1 Mar. 2019 In a haunting novella based on a memoir by Amasa Delano, a Massachusetts ship captain who had encountered a Spanish slave ship, Herman Melville—almost alone among classic white writers before the Civil War—confronted the horror of slavery. — Andrew Delbanco, WSJ, "Five Best: Andrew Delbanco on Books on Slavery and the Coming of the Civil War," 30 Nov. 2018 There are items for men and women, for design obsessives, and for those who have never encountered the Scotsman, whose heyday was a century ago. — Steff Yotka, Vogue, "Loewe’s Jonathan Anderson Is Obsessed With Charles Rennie Mackintosh, and Soon You Will Be Too," 12 Nov. 2018 For those who are less-than-familiar with children's literature these days, The Gruffalo, is a wildly popular book series (and now film) about a mouse who encounters several creatures while walking through the woods, including the titular beast. — Caroline Hallemann, Town & Country, "Prince William Just Revealed Prince George and Princess Charlotte's Favorite Book—and Its a Modern British Classic," 11 Sep. 2018 The letter aims to identify for Mueller what the lawyers believe are grievous errors both in how Comey handled the Clinton investigation and in his early, and limited, encounters with the president. — Eric Tucker And Chad Day, chicagotribune.com, "Trump lawyers call Comey 'Machiavellian' in confidential memo to Mueller," 7 July 2018 Any Muslim who encountered him was ordered to kill him. — NBC News, "He spied on al Qaeda from the inside, until he had to run for his life," 17 June 2018 Kneale depicts the city as its various attackers encountered it: Gauls, arriving naked on horseback, found a nearly rural settlement; the Visigoths, invading eight centuries later, laid waste to unimaginable architectural marvels. — George Packer, The New Yorker, "Briefly Noted," 16 June 2018 Animals often go out of their way to avoid encountering us. — Kaitlyn Gaynor, CNN, "To avoid humans, more wildlife now work the night shift," 14 June 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

Royals, avoiding awkward encounters like the rest of us. — Kayleigh Roberts, Marie Claire, "Prince Harry Dodged Awkward Run-Ins With Two Exes at the 'Our Planet' Premiere in London," 6 Apr. 2019 The bribery indictment that this week swept up the chairman of North Carolina’s Republican Party and an insurance tycoon who is the state’s largest political donor was sparked by a chance encounter at a gathering of state and federal officials. — Mark Maremont, WSJ, "How Official’s Undercover Role Led to Charges Against Billionaire," 4 Apr. 2019 Some fans also speculated about the reason behind Jon and Arya's encounter. — Erica Gonzales, Harper's BAZAAR, "Game of Thrones Fans Have a Heartwarming Theory Behind Jon Snow and Arya Stark's Reunion in the New Promo," 2 Apr. 2019 So, the North Korean diplomat, didn’t respond to written questions from The Associated Press and declined to talk to reporters during a recent encounter outside the Madrid embassy. — Aritz Parra, The Seattle Times, "Spain: FBI offered data stolen in North Korean Embassy raid," 27 Mar. 2019 The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of action — sick-outs, strikes, viral face-to-face encounters with senators, and widespread national media attention on the youth movement to address climate change. — Isha Tobis Clarke, Teen Vogue, "What the Youth Climate Strike Felt Like as a Woman of Color," 19 Mar. 2019 After a chance encounter abroad, romantic dreamer Rosso follows lawyer Chloe to the United States. — Liz Cantrell, Town & Country, "The Five Books Everyone Will Be Talking About in September," 5 Sep. 2018 Mattis made his comments in response to questions from reporters during an encounter on the steps of the Pentagon. — Robert Burns, Fox News, "Mattis dismissive of news reports of tension with Trump," 18 Sep. 2018 From mortifying hookups to uncomfy public encounters, keep reading for ~cringy~ stories that actually happened. 1. — Seventeen Editors, Seventeen, "23 Juicy Spring Break Confessions That Actually Happened," 5 Feb. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'encounter.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.