encounter

a brief clash between enemies or rivals survived an encounter with the school bully at the local park Synonyms brush, hassle, run-in, scrape, skirmish Related Words argument, fight, quarrel, row, spat, squabble, tiff; battle, brawl, fray, wrangle

1 to come upon face-to-face or as if face-to-face quite unexpectedly encountered our next-door neighbor while vacationing in Europe Synonyms catch, chance (upon), meet, happen (upon), stumble (upon)Related Words accost, confront; face, greet, salute; collide (with), crash (into); crisscross, cross, pass; hit (upon), light (upon), tumble (to); reencounter, remeetNear Antonyms avoid, dodge, duck, elude, escape, evade, shake, shun

2 to come upon unexpectedly or by chance we encountered a host of unforeseen problems during the restoration of our 200-year-old house Synonyms chance (upon), happen, find, hit (upon), light (on or upon), meet, pitch (upon), stumble (on or onto), tumble (upon)Related Words luck (out, on, onto, or into); confront, face; discover, strike, turn up

3 to enter into contest or conflict with the troops encountered bands of guerrilla fighters as they made their way across the desert Synonyms battle, engage, face, meet, take onRelated Words emulate, rival; contend, fight, opposeNear Antonyms elude, escape, evade; retreat