happen to

phrasal verb

happened to; happening to; happens to

: to affect or involve (someone or something) as the result of an event or action

An odd thing happened to me on my way to the office last week.

I wonder what/whatever happened to that guy after he lost his job.

especially : to affect (someone or something) in a bad or harmful way

I promise nothing will happen to you.

What happened to the car? There's a big scratch on the fender.

Examples of happen to in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Walk On The Appalachian Trail One of the country’s most legendary hiker routes, the Appalachian Trail runs for more than 2,000 miles from Georgia all the way to Maine, and its path happens to cross right through Hot Springs. —Tara Massouleh McCay, Southern Living, 12 Oct. 2025

One of them just happened to squeak through. —Grant Brisbee, New York Times, 12 Oct. 2025

What happened to Vultee Aircraft? —Stuart Dyos, Nashville Tennessean, 12 Oct. 2025

There were rumors that the Chiefs’ tight end Travis Kelce, Swift’s Ken, who also happens to be a future Hall of Famer, would pop the question on the field if his team won the Super Bowl. —Louisa Thomas, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2025

Rhymes for happen to

• amadou
• avenue
• ballyhoo
• baraboo
• barbecue
• barbeque
• bugaboo
• cabildo
• caribou
• cockatoo
• detinue
• devalue