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

The Arizona Coyotes had called Glendale home for nearly 20 years, so news of the NHL team possibly leaving the state was met with interest by city leaders. —The Arizona Republic, 17 Apr. 2024

Conan O’Brien Must Go finds the host heading abroad to meet with and provide assistance to listeners/viewers/fans from around the world. —Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 17 Apr. 2024

Machado has since offered to meet with Rosales and look for a solution. —Samantha Schmidt, Washington Post, 17 Apr. 2024

The shop will also tailor the suspension of each car to meet the owner’s preferences. —Bryan Hood, Robb Report, 17 Apr. 2024

That is where Trevor met Will Kiefer, the founder of the Bench Mark Program, a group that helps vulnerable and at-risk youth. —Destinee Adams, NPR, 17 Apr. 2024

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

Noun

The Cardinal was inconsistent early in the season and unseeded entering regionals, but defeated No. 14 Auburn and No. 6 Denver to finish second to Cal in the regional to become the first unseeded team to reach the championship meet since 2011. —Laurence Miedema, The Mercury News, 17 Apr. 2024

Advertisement Sadie Engelhardt of Ventura did her usual splendid job creating excitement at the stadium full of track and field fans, setting a meet record of 4:34.31 in the girls’ mile. —Eric Sondheimer, Los Angeles Times, 8 Apr. 2024

So, again spiking attendance, a famed co-pro meet has developed ever more as licensing market, the presence of international distributors attracting ever more companies which are still facing huge competition to snag sales. —John Hopewell, Variety, 15 Mar. 2024

Noonan is skipping the county meet to focus on the following week’s Mt. SAC meet, and Felix is preparing for Pacific Coast League championships. —Steve Fryer, Orange County Register, 12 Apr. 2024

McCormick was disqualified from the state meet in a controversial preliminary heat. —San Diego Union-Tribune, 1 Apr. 2024

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

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"