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encounters 1 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of encounter
1
as in meets
to come upon face-to-face or as if face-to-face quite unexpectedly encountered our next-door neighbor while vacationing in Europe

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in finds
to come upon unexpectedly or by chance we encountered a host of unforeseen problems during the restoration of our 200-year-old house

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3
as in faces
to enter into contest or conflict with the troops encountered bands of guerrilla fighters as they made their way across the desert

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

encounters

2 of 2

noun

plural of encounter
as in skirmishes
a brief clash between enemies or rivals survived an encounter with the school bully at the local park

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of encounters
Verb
Sometimes the upgrade is simply removing friction before the guest encounters it. — Jeffery Khoury, Forbes.com, 14 Sep. 2026 The lawsuit describes disturbing encounters seven Common Cause members had with federal officers in Maryland, Minnesota and New Jersey after trying to observe immigration enforcement. — Jude Joffe-Block, NPR, 10 Sep. 2026 Good Samaritan Outreach, an Orlando nonprofit food pantry and soup kitchen founded in 1997, encounters these families every week, people who are doing their best but need a helping hand to ensure their children not go to bed hungry. — Christine Franz, The Orlando Sentinel, 8 Sep. 2026 When the scanning tip encounters a rough surface, the mechanical contact between the probe and the sample changes. — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 7 Sep. 2026 If a machine encounters something unusual or gets stuck, someone monitoring the fleet can briefly intervene until the autonomous system is ready to take back over. — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 6 Sep. 2026 Zai encounters them inside and on the streets, as a sense of terror envelops her. — Ritesh Mehta, IndieWire, 5 Sep. 2026 Public Safety Manager Alicia Espinoza said the response team deals with crisis and de-escalation and often encounters individuals who are struggling with substance abuse. — Hema Sivanandam, Mercury News, 3 Sep. 2026 Nolte and Ben Mendelsohn, who makes a vivid impression as a farmer who encounters Caleb, were locked in early on, but otherwise, things went down to the wire. — David Canfield, HollywoodReporter, 2 Sep. 2026
Noun
Specialty Context Changes The Equation Generalist models trained on broad medical conversation tend to struggle more with the structured language and predictable rhythms of specialty encounters. — Pat Williams, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2026 The simmering push-pull dynamic in their encounters proves beguiling. — Michael Rechtshaffen, HollywoodReporter, 11 Sep. 2026 The nearly dialogue-free shenanigans hark back to slapstick comedians like Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton, making the often hilariously violent encounters between these two characters feel at once fresh and classical. — Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 10 Sep. 2026 Michael Khalili was eager to join the Common Cause lawsuit to help fellow observers, since in his case there is documentation of some of his encounters. — Jude Joffe-Block, NPR, 10 Sep. 2026 Between 2018 and 2024, the number of encounters with an ectopic pregnancy diagnosis increased by 27%. — Andrea Suozzo, CNN Money, 10 Sep. 2026 This could reveal how common encounters like this are and if more binary systems are composed of stars brought together by chance encounters. — Robert Lea, Space.com, 9 Sep. 2026 Melendez believes the teenagers are recording the encounters to gain attention online. — Steve Large, CBS News, 9 Sep. 2026 People tend to be more observant after seeing social media posts or news reports about snake encounters or bites. — Haley Parsley, Sacbee.com, 5 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for encounters
  1. meets
  2. finds
  3. faces
  4. skirmishes
  5. confronts
  6. fights
  7. catches
  8. brushes
Verb
  • Described as an ensemble piece — Election meets American Beauty — the film’s plot is being kept under wraps.
    — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 16 Sep. 2026
  • State what lights you up, then invite feedback, because collaboration works best when your adventurous spirit meets boundaries.
    — Tarot.com, Baltimore Sun, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of meets
Verb
  • The agent reads a contract, finds the clause, fills in the field, and escalates the exception.
    — Eshaan Jain, Forbes.com, 14 Sep. 2026
  • Read kicks this tale off with a meet-cute and an unconventional relationship, but finds authentic emotion and real social issues to power the characters’ journeys forward.
    — Katie Walsh, Variety, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of finds
Verb
  • The nurturing Moon in your sign faces shocking Uranus in your 7th House of Partnership, so your needs and someone else’s ask for balance.
    — Tarot.com, Baltimore Sun, 16 Sep. 2026
  • McBride faces Arminio for lone House seat The nominees for Delaware's only House seat were also decided, with incumbent Sarah McBride – the first trans person elected to Congress – winning the Democratic nomination after running unopposed.
    — Phillip M. Bailey, USA Today, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of faces
Noun
  • Oasis’s Live ’25 was one of the biggest tours of the decade, marking the band’s first performances in 15 years after brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher’s intense skirmishes led to the band breaking up in 2009.
    — Ethan Millman, HollywoodReporter, 14 Sep. 2026
  • Asgari highlights these minor skirmishes through life itself (whether at its most verbose, or in complete silence) via minor aesthetic transformations which play in major keys, and prove deeply moving.
    — Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of skirmishes
Verb
  • The latest contingent is arriving as Haiti confronts a deteriorating security and humanitarian environment and struggles to organize its first general elections in more than a decade.
    — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 19 Sep. 2026
  • The idea comes as the economy confronts rising interest rates, continuing inflation and climbing fuel costs.
    — Mike Catalini, Los Angeles Times, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of confronts
Noun
  • Some of his worst fights happened with Justin Burnell, a manager who eventually became a partner at Drastic Measures, according to multiple employees.
    — Katelyn Umholtz, Kansas City Star, 15 Sep. 2026
  • The Ultimate Fighting Championship built up its early lore with tournaments in which all the fights happened on the same night.
    — Oskar Garcia, New York Times, 15 Sep. 2026
Definition of fights
Verb
  • Cameron Roberts catches the ball at the 13 yard line and the Mainland defender is flagged for a late hit.
    — Buddy Collings, The Orlando Sentinel, 18 Sep. 2026
  • The shoes are a pointed-toe stiletto featuring pearl accents all throughout the uppers, creating a unique textural finish that catches the light.
    — Amina Ayoud, Footwear News, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of catches
Noun
  • What was once a simple shelf of shampoo and brushes now reads more like a beauty counter.
    — Ryan Brennan, Sacbee.com, 19 Sep. 2026
  • All around the studio are things Wesselmann touched, not only his artworks but his brushes and paint tubes and even a pair of gloves (handily labeled TR and TL, for Tom right hand and Tom left hand).
    — Brian Boucher, ARTnews.com, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of brushes

Browse Nearby Words

encountering
encounters
encourage
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Cite this Entry

“Encounters.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/encounters. Accessed 21 Sep. 2026.

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