meet

1 of 3

verb

ˈmēt 

met ˈmet  ; meeting; meets

transitive verb

1

a

: to come into the presence of for the first time : to be introduced to or become acquainted with

I'm pleased to meet you.

Where did you two meet each other?

I met him in college.

We met her through a mutual friend.

b

: to come together with especially at a particular time or place

I'll meet you at the station

c

: to come into contact or conjunction with : join

There is where the brook meets the river.

d

: to appear to the perception of

a pungent odor … met his nostrils

—S. E. White

2

: to encounter as antagonist (see antagonist sense 1) or foe : oppose

met the heavyweight in a successful bout

3

: to enter into conference, argument, or personal dealings with

We met her over coffee.

4

: to conform to especially with exactitude and precision

a concept to meet all requirements

5

: to pay fully : settle

could not meet his loans

—Waldo Frank

6

: to cope with

was able to meet every social situation

7

: to provide for

enough money to meet our needs

8

: to become acquainted with

I want you to meet my sister.

9

: encounter, experience

The proposal has met some opposition.

You will likely meet many obstacles on your journey.

He met an untimely death.

10

: to receive or greet in an official capacity

The president met the prime minister at the White House.

intransitive verb

1

a

: to come face-to-face

That's the restaurant where they met.

b

: to come together for a common purpose : assemble

The delegates met at the convention.

c

: to come together as contestants, opponents, or enemies

The candidates met for their debate.

2

: to form a junction or confluence

the lines meet in a point

3

: to occur together

many graces and many virtues meet in her

meeter noun

meet

2 of 3

noun

plural meets

1

chiefly US : a large gathering of athletes for a sports competition

a wrestling/gymnastic meet

the championship meet

… everyone has a personal laundry list of what generally ails track and field. Some say the failure to have more meets on television heads the list. But merely putting a meet on television won't solve the sport's failure to promote itself.

—William C. Rhoden

see also dual meet, quad meet, swim meet, track meet, tri-meet

2

chiefly British : a gathering of mounted hunters and their hunting dogs for hunting

When hunting with hounds was legal, I used to attend the Boxing Day meet in Newbury Market Place, hoping that the hunt members would have a jolly good day out but that the fox would get away.

—Roy Bailey Hungerford

It was so cold that I nursed a hope that a glass of cherry brandy … might be on offer at the meet. But no, we gathered at a gate leading to open country and the hills near which most of the foxhunters … mounted.

—W. F. Deedes

3

: an instance of coming together at a particular time or place especially for the first time

They set up a meet with a potential buyer.

So I confess to being a bit skeptical about meeting someone online, texting back and forth, finally arranging a meet, and having it develop into a committed lifelong relationship.

—Robert Kirby

see also meet and greet, swap meet

meet

3 of 3

adjective

archaic & dialectal British

: precisely adapted to a particular situation, need, or circumstance : very proper

… their ghosts … haunt the fires by which sit armed men, as is meet for the spirits of fearless warriors who died in battle.

—Joseph Conrad

meetly adverb

Phrases

meet halfway

: to compromise with

The senators met halfway on an energy bill.

We can't give you everything you've requested, but we can meet you halfway.

Can you meet us halfway on this? = Can we meet halfway on this?

meet with

: to be subjected to : encounter

the proposal met with opposition

Synonyms

Verb

• catch
• chance (upon)
• encounter
• happen (upon)
• stumble (upon)

Noun

• bout
• competition
• contest
• event
• game
• match
• matchup
• sweepstakes
• sweep-stake
• tournament
• tourney

Adjective

• applicable
• appropriate
• apt
• becoming
• befitting
• felicitous
• fit
• fitted
• fitting
• good
• happy
• pretty
• proper
• right
• suitable

Choose the Right Synonym for meet

fit, suitable, meet, proper, appropriate, fitting, apt, happy, felicitous mean right with respect to some end, need, use, or circumstance.

fit stresses adaptability and sometimes special readiness for use or action.

fit for battle

suitable implies an answering to requirements or demands.

clothes suitable for camping

meet suggests a just proportioning.

meet payment

proper suggests a suitability through essential nature or accordance with custom.

proper acknowledgement

appropriate implies eminent or distinctive fitness.

an appropriate gift

fitting implies harmony of mood or tone.

a fitting end

apt connotes a fitness marked by nicety and discrimination.

apt quotations

happy suggests what is effectively or successfully appropriate.

a happy choice of words

felicitous suggests an aptness that is opportune, telling, or graceful.

a felicitous phrase

Examples of meet in a Sentence

Verb

He met his wife at work.

We met each other in college.

Did you meet anyone interesting at the party?

I'd like you to meet my good friend Bob.

The couple met at a dance.

Have we met? You look familiar.

They met for drinks after work.

We arranged to meet for lunch.

Let's meet at the park.

They meet together every week.

Adjective

in this case, splitting the winnings of the contested lottery ticket seems like a meet solution

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Riddled with post-breakup woes after Haley temporarily ends their relationship, Rudy meets Isabella (Camila Mendes), a new love interest who encourages his dreams of puppetry, at a local Brazilian fish market. —Carlos Aguilar, Variety, 6 Apr. 2024

Tony served in the Tactical Air Command unit of the Air Force and met his wife while serving in Vietnam. —Joe Marusak, Charlotte Observer, 5 Apr. 2024

In February, Biden issued a national security memorandum that expanded upon those rules, adding an annual report to Congress about whether recipients of U.S. arms are meeting the standards. —Cate Brown, Washington Post, 5 Apr. 2024

In District 4, Cesar Fernandez, a school board trustee, and Rudy Ramirez, a former council member, will face off for the seat vacated by Andrea Cardenas, who has pleaded guilty to felony charges; in the meantime, the council was meeting to appoint a temporary replacement Thursday evening. —Emily Alvarenga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Apr. 2024

But when my mother, sister and I arrived at our first appointment, we were met with a mob of tulle and sparkle, sweetheart necklines and tea-length hems, and white, white, white. —Isabelle Stillman, Los Angeles Times, 5 Apr. 2024

On Thursday, Isabella Casillas Guzman, who heads the U.S. Small Business Administration, visited Baltimore to meet with business owners, along with state and local leaders. —Lea Skene, Fortune, 5 Apr. 2024

Dolan will meet with local representatives from Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities as well as social services groups. —NBC News, 5 Apr. 2024

Next Tuesday, Maryland's congressional delegation will be meeting with Gov. Wes Moore and Young Tuesday to discuss emergency funding for Baltimore and its response to the bridge collapse. —Kathryn Watson, CBS News, 5 Apr. 2024

Noun

The best track and field meet of the season is set for Saturday at Arcadia High. —Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 1 Apr. 2024

The previous meet record was 42.58 by Cathedral Catholic’s Kapiolani Coleman last year. —Steve Brand, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Mar. 2024

One month later, Grimstad led his team to first-place finishes in three events at one meet. —USA TODAY, 12 Mar. 2024

The two meet at Coachella when Solène takes her daughter to see Hayes’ band, August Moon. —Caroline Brew, Variety, 11 Mar. 2024

Then there was Canyon of Canyon Country’s Mikaela Warr setting a meet record with a wind legal 11.56 in the 100. —Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 11 Mar. 2024

Weaver previously served as the meet director of the Kansas Relays from 2000 to 2006. —Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 5 Mar. 2024

At last week’s CIF meet, Sierra edged Cline 1-0 on a third-period escape. —Kevin J. Farmer, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Feb. 2024

An escape and take down in the third made the difference — and flipped an earlier outcome when Dyer beat Parker in the 2-6A District meet. —Cody Thorn, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 18 Feb. 2024

Adjective

During her sophomore year at St. Michael, Sarah Kate heard about an adaptive swim meet in Georgia and again asked her parents about participating and was authorized to take part in the pre-meet clinic. —al, 1 Apr. 2021

Yet the story unfolds in fits and starts, jumping forward to get to the most fertile comedic territory while montage-ing its way through the central relationship after its meet-cute origins. —Brian Lowry, CNN, 27 Jan. 2023

Silvera teams up with YA author Becky Albertalli for this meet-cute romance novel. —Leah Campano, Seventeen, 13 Jan. 2023

Oklahoma State signee Natalie Cook of Flower Mound ran the 3,200 meters for the first time this season and won the 6-6A title in a meet-record time of 10:07.31 to help her team win the team title by 66 points. —Dallas News, 15 Apr. 2022

Certainly, there aren’t many straight love stories where a meet-cute is followed by one of the parties going off to shag someone else. —Peter Debruge, Variety, 10 Sep. 2022

Six years after a meet-cute straight out of a romantic comedy, country singer Tyler Barham and his longtime love Morgan Hauerwas have tied the knot! —Sarah Michaud, PEOPLE.com, 28 June 2022

World asked him to respond to a thread on an internet message board about his future as coach on Tuesday during the pre-meet news conference. —Ken Goe For The Oregonian/oregonlive, oregonlive, 11 June 2022

There must be consequences when these expectations are not meet. —Baltimore Sun, 17 May 2022

Word History

Etymology

Verb and Noun

Middle English meten, from Old English mētan; akin to Old English gemōt assembly — more at moot entry 3

Adjective

Middle English mete, from Old English gemǣte; akin to Old English metan to mete

First Known Use

Verb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Noun

1804, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Adjective

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing meet

• dual meet
• make ends meet
• match/meet expectations
• meet and greet
• meet cute
• meet halfway
• meet in closed session
• meet one's doom
• meet one's fate
• meet one's maker
• meet one's match
• meet one's Waterloo
• meet someone's gaze
• meet-up
• meet up with
• meet with
• meet with little success
• meet with one's approval
• never the twain shall meet
• pre-meet
• quad meet
• swap meet
• swim meet
• track meet
• tri-meet

Kids Definition

meet

1 of 3 verb

ˈmēt 

met ˈmet  ; meeting

1

: to come by chance into the presence of : encounter

met an old friend

2

a

: to approach from the opposite direction

when you meet another car, keep to the right

b

: to touch and join or cross

a fork where two roads meet

3

: to go where a person or thing is or will be

agreed to meet me at school

4

a

: to become acquainted

the couple met at a dance

b

: to make the acquaintance of

met interesting people there

5

a

: to come together as opponents

the teams met in the finals

b

: to struggle against : oppose

was chosen to meet the champion

6

: match entry 2 sense 4a

tries to meet the competitor's price

7

: endure sense 2

meet defeat bravely

8

: to come together : assemble

meet for discussion

9

: to become noticed by

sounds that meet the ears

10

a

: to fulfill the requirements of : satisfy

met all our demands

b

: to pay fully : discharge

meet a financial obligation

meet

2 of 3 noun

: a meeting for sports competition

a track meet

meet

3 of 3 adjective

: suitable sense 2, proper

meetly adverb

Etymology

Verb

Old English mētan "to meet"

Adjective

Old English gemǣte "proper"