occur to
phrasal verb
occurred to; occurring to; occurs to
: to be thought of by (someone)
An idea just occurred to me.
It suddenly occurred to her that there was a simpler way to deal with the problem.
Did it never occur to you to ask for help?
Examples of occur to in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
In my recent research on extraterrestrial life and UFOs, one of the most poignant thought experiments was the question of whether our own human longing to reach for the stars may exist elsewhere — or even occur to other species.
—
Garrett M. Graff, Rolling Stone, 25 Nov. 2023
There is this gratitude and graciousness that folks feel to this town, coupled with the stark reality that this hate crime occurred to your community.
—Maira Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 13 Nov. 2023
The idea that this wasn’t worth doing never would have occurred to him.
—Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 2 Nov. 2023
So when Jillian was getting ready to select floral arrangements for her upcoming wedding, the idea suddenly occurred to her that Ruthie would be the perfect choice.
—Erin Clack, Peoplemag, 31 Oct. 2023
For me, the most memorable covers are by gifted artists who find and bring to life facets in a song that eluded — or never even occurred to — the original performer or songwriter.
—George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Oct. 2023
These are thoughts that could occur to you live in the moment of the show itself.
—Wesley Morris, New York Times, 13 Oct. 2023
Instead, Aron reported what had occurred to the FBI.
—Kate Gibson, CBS News, 12 Oct. 2023
But the thought of actually sacrificing himself is not likely to occur to him.
—Marc Fisher, Washington Post, 11 Oct. 2023
See More
Garrett M. Graff, Rolling Stone, 25 Nov. 2023
There is this gratitude and graciousness that folks feel to this town, coupled with the stark reality that this hate crime occurred to your community.
—Maira Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 13 Nov. 2023
The idea that this wasn’t worth doing never would have occurred to him.
—Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone, 2 Nov. 2023
So when Jillian was getting ready to select floral arrangements for her upcoming wedding, the idea suddenly occurred to her that Ruthie would be the perfect choice.
—Erin Clack, Peoplemag, 31 Oct. 2023
For me, the most memorable covers are by gifted artists who find and bring to life facets in a song that eluded — or never even occurred to — the original performer or songwriter.
—George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Oct. 2023
These are thoughts that could occur to you live in the moment of the show itself.
—Wesley Morris, New York Times, 13 Oct. 2023
Instead, Aron reported what had occurred to the FBI.
—Kate Gibson, CBS News, 12 Oct. 2023
But the thought of actually sacrificing himself is not likely to occur to him.
—Marc Fisher, Washington Post, 11 Oct. 2023
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'occur to.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Occur to.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/occur%20to. Accessed 4 Dec. 2023.
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