encounter

play

verb en·coun·ter \ in-ˈkau̇n-tər , en- \

Definition of encounter

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

transitive verb

1 a :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

See encounter defined for English-language learners

See encounter defined for kids

Examples of encounter in a Sentence

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.

Recent Examples of encounter from the Web

The park is full of giraffes, zebras, antelopes, elephants, buffalo, hippos, crocodiles and birds, so visitors are guaranteed to encounter wildlife.

— hillary richard, New York Times, "The Wonder Women of Botswana Safari," 25 Aug. 2017
Trump, who faces a federal budgetary crisis this fall, has already encountered his first debt ceiling.

— emily jane fox, The Hive, "Trump’s Next Bankruptcy Crisis . . . the Secret Service?," 21 Aug. 2017
Kendall Jenner has encountered her fair share of social media criticism.

— christopher rosa, Glamour, "Kendall Jenner Is Getting Criticized Right Now for Using This Emoji," 21 Aug. 2017
Which makes it oh-so-interesting to encounter the rare policy parallels between his administration and the last.

— michelle cottle, The Atlantic, "The Onerous, Arbitrary, Unaccountable World of Occupational Licensing," 13 Aug. 2017
Easton is the first officer to encounter these issues, which Trabert said the department didn't know existed until now.

— erika butler, The Aegis, "Aberdeen officer shot in the face in 2015 retiring," 11 Aug. 2017
United Nations estimates suggest that, in just eight years, 14 percent of the world’s population will encounter water scarcity.

— simon parkin, Bloomberg.com, "Brexit Is Quietly Strangling Science," 8 Aug. 2017
Here’s a look at just a few: Refresh BISD Aug. 19 School supplies, backpacks, free haircuts and sports physicals are just a few of the things that attendees at the Refresh BISD event will encounter.

— faye reeder, star-telegram, "Steak & Stetson event will benefit Special Olympics kids," 6 Aug. 2017
Browser makers are bending over backwards to ensure that your browser encounters as little Flash as possible before it's phased out in 2020.

— mark hachman, PCWorld, "Adobe Flash will die by 2020, Adobe and browser makers say," 25 July 2017

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.

Origin and Etymology of encounter

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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

encounter Synonyms

Synonyms

catch, chance (upon), meet, happen (upon), stumble (upon)

Related Words

accost, confront; face, greet, salute; collide (with), crash (into); crisscross, cross, pass; hit (upon), light (upon), tumble (to); reencounter, remeet

Near Antonyms

avoid, dodge, duck, elude, escape, evade, shake, shun

encounter

noun

Definition of encounter

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

an encounter between the police and demonstrators

2 a :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

See encounter defined for English-language learners

Examples of encounter in a Sentence

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 of encounter from the Web

If Budnick helps the T-Bolts make the playoffs, he and the team will be quite thankful for a chance encounter that occurred a few weeks ago.

— steve millar, Daily Southtown, "Rookie Ryan Budnick gives ThunderBolts a boost in playoff push," 28 Aug. 2017
These types of vague encounters most likely spurred the demand for some rules.

— vanessa grigoriadis, New York Times, "Sex at Wesleyan: What’s Changed, What Hasn’t? An Alumna Asks," 25 Aug. 2017
Sometimes bigger fish will have tell-tale signs of earlier human encounters like scars or even hooks in their mouths.

— j. harry jones, sandiegouniontribune.com, "No fish tale: Giant catfish are lurking in local lakes," 19 Aug. 2017
But Jian Jiamin, a legal counselor with China's PLA navy who served in Africa, reported the encounter to the media.

— joe pappalardo, Popular Mechanics, "Fears of Frogmen: Why Navies Are Spooked by 'Ghost' Combat Divers," 3 Aug. 2017
President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions had their first face-to-face encounter today since tension between the two erupted on the national stage.

— the washington post, AL.com, "Trump asked Mexican president to end his public defiance on border wall, transcript shows," 3 Aug. 2017
The annual event features beers from dozens of craft breweries, live music, zookeeper talks, and a few animal encounters.

— lisa beebe, Los Angeles Magazine, "Have Some Beers. Tell a Zebra about Your Screenplay. “Brew at the Zoo” is Friday.," 2 Aug. 2017
Guests can also enjoy exclusive access to the park with their own golf buggy before visitors who aren't staying on the grounds enter or book a VIP safari experience, which includes animal encounters along the way.

— lauren smith, House Beautiful, "This Tiger Lodge Will Bring Your Safari Dreams to Life," 10 July 2017
Aides are expected to accompany the president during the official meeting, to help manage the encounter.

— vanityfair.com, "Is Trump About to Get Played by Putin?," 5 July 2017

First Known Use of encounter

14th century

encounter Synonyms

Synonyms

brush, hassle, run-in, scrape, skirmish

Related Words

argument, fight, quarrel, row, spat, squabble, tiff; battle, brawl, fray, wrangle

ENCOUNTER Defined for English Language Learners

encounter

play

verb

Definition of encounter for English Language Learners

: to have or experience (problems, difficulties, etc.)
: to meet (someone) without expecting or intending to

encounter

noun

Definition of encounter for English Language Learners

: a meeting that is not planned or expected
: a usually brief experience with another person
: a violent or very unfriendly meeting

ENCOUNTER Defined for Kids

encounter

play

verb en·coun·ter \ in-ˈkau̇n-tər \

Definition of encounter for Students

encountered; encountering

1 :to meet face-to-face or by chance

I encountered an old friend.

2 :to experience or face often unexpectedly

Have you encountered any difficulty?

encounter

noun

Definition of encounter for Students

1 :a meeting face-to-face and often by chance

2 :an often unexpected experience It was his first encounter with fame.

Learn More about encounter

See words that rhyme with encounter Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for encounter Spanish Central: Translation of encounter Nglish: Translation of encounter for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of encounter for Arabic speakers

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encounter

Definition of encounter

Examples of encounter in a Sentence

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First Known Use of encounter

encounter Synonyms

Synonyms

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ENCOUNTER Defined for English Language Learners

encounter

Definition of encounter for English Language Learners

encounter

Definition of encounter for English Language Learners

ENCOUNTER Defined for Kids

encounter

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encounter

Definition of encounter for Students

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