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
Dutcher says the right combination of water, sun, winds and temperatures has to occur to produce one.
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Gary Robbins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Jan. 2026
However, spontaneous and induced sleep promoted genome stability, suggesting that the evolution of sleep may have occurred to repair DNA damage and reduce cellular stress in simple nerve nets.
—Michelle Del Rey, USA Today, 9 Jan. 2026
This possibility had never occurred to her.
—Literary Hub, 7 Jan. 2026
One problem that occurs to me might be if your son-in-law’s sister plans to bring the kids and live with her mother in the future.
—Abigail Van Buren, Boston Herald, 31 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for occur to
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Gary Robbins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 Jan. 2026
However, spontaneous and induced sleep promoted genome stability, suggesting that the evolution of sleep may have occurred to repair DNA damage and reduce cellular stress in simple nerve nets.
—Michelle Del Rey, USA Today, 9 Jan. 2026
This possibility had never occurred to her.
—Literary Hub, 7 Jan. 2026
One problem that occurs to me might be if your son-in-law’s sister plans to bring the kids and live with her mother in the future.
—Abigail Van Buren, Boston Herald, 31 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for occur to
Cite this Entry
“Occur to.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/occur%20to. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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