as in happened
to take place
whatever befalls, we'll make the best of it and carry on
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Recent Examples of befell
Tragedy befell Turner’s family in 2018, when his mother succumbed to cancer.
—
Roni Jacobson, New York Daily News, 4 Jan. 2026
Instead, punishment was more likely to take the form of fines or of exile—the fate that befell the poet Ovid.
—Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 8 Dec. 2025
The same fate befell Quebec Amazon employees who unionized in 2024.
—Dónal Gill, The Dial, 28 Oct. 2025
The answer lies in both its tactics and in the tragedy which befell the club over the summer.
—Jamie Barton, CNN Money, 27 Oct. 2025
In this soft dystopia, our military forces will not be destroyed in a cataclysmic confrontation with the armies of Communism, as befell Nazi Germany on the Eastern Front.
—Seth Harp, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 2025
At Delta State University on Wednesday, there were few signs of the tragedy that befell the campus this week and disrupted the beginning of a new school year.
—Daniella Silva, NBC news, 18 Sep. 2025
Sadly, the midnight movie magic that befell me and my Long Treadmill compatriots will be gone from our city by then.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 4 Sep. 2025
But this preseason, the circumstances that so often befell a roster already too thin to begin with didn’t manifest themselves for a change.
—Howard Megdal, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2025
Roni Jacobson, New York Daily News, 4 Jan. 2026
Instead, punishment was more likely to take the form of fines or of exile—the fate that befell the poet Ovid.
—Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 8 Dec. 2025
The same fate befell Quebec Amazon employees who unionized in 2024.
—Dónal Gill, The Dial, 28 Oct. 2025
The answer lies in both its tactics and in the tragedy which befell the club over the summer.
—Jamie Barton, CNN Money, 27 Oct. 2025
In this soft dystopia, our military forces will not be destroyed in a cataclysmic confrontation with the armies of Communism, as befell Nazi Germany on the Eastern Front.
—Seth Harp, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 2025
At Delta State University on Wednesday, there were few signs of the tragedy that befell the campus this week and disrupted the beginning of a new school year.
—Daniella Silva, NBC news, 18 Sep. 2025
Sadly, the midnight movie magic that befell me and my Long Treadmill compatriots will be gone from our city by then.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 4 Sep. 2025
But this preseason, the circumstances that so often befell a roster already too thin to begin with didn’t manifest themselves for a change.
—Howard Megdal, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for befell
Verb
-
What happened next — her then-husband Joey Buttafuoco's 17-year-old mistress Amy Fisher showing up at her door and shooting her point-blank in the face — created an almost instant media firestorm.—
Janine Rubenstein,
PEOPLE,
16 Jan. 2026
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The last time this happened was in 2018, with observers in Europe reporting a brief surge of more than 100 meteors per hour.—
Michael d'Estries,
Travel + Leisure,
16 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
The incident occurred during the episode 5 Roundtable.—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
16 Jan. 2026
-
The first two racehorse deaths of 2026 in California occurred at Santa Anita.—
Kevin Modesti,
Oc Register,
16 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Befell.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/befell. Accessed 18 Jan. 2026.
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