as in to occur
to take place
did anything exciting happen over the summer?
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of happen
Another is his knack for just making things happen, the sheer chaos factor, so often useful in tight matches.
—
Jack Lang, New York Times, 17 Jan. 2026
Here’s what happened in the Latin music world this week.
—Isabela Raygoza, Billboard, 17 Jan. 2026
Yet even after a mine is operational, fluctuations in mineral prices can force mines to shutter — as happened with the Black Angel lead-zinc mine at Maarmorilik in west Greenland.
—Jared Perlo, NBC news, 17 Jan. 2026
Many communities are at a loss about what happens now.
—Tammy Webber, Los Angeles Times, 17 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for happen
Jack Lang, New York Times, 17 Jan. 2026
Here’s what happened in the Latin music world this week.
—Isabela Raygoza, Billboard, 17 Jan. 2026
Yet even after a mine is operational, fluctuations in mineral prices can force mines to shutter — as happened with the Black Angel lead-zinc mine at Maarmorilik in west Greenland.
—Jared Perlo, NBC news, 17 Jan. 2026
Many communities are at a loss about what happens now.
—Tammy Webber, Los Angeles Times, 17 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for happen
Recent Examples of Synonyms for happen
Verb
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And one of the main lessons that will be learned from that account is that while the harms that occurred came quickly and sometimes surprisingly easily, their negative consequences — on universities and society at large — will linger for a long time.—
Michael T. Nietzel,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
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What self-revelation occurred was not done casually.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
29 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The big moment comes amid the HBO Max drama's breakout success and after the pair was photographed out together several times on Globes weekend.—
Brenton Blanchet,
PEOPLE,
12 Jan. 2026
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The killings came amid a wave of bloody violence tied to drug trafficking and organized crime, which has surged across Ecuador in recent years.—
Emma Bussey,
FOXNews.com,
12 Jan. 2026
Verb
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And there are signs that assumptions about men’s unwillingness to use such products are eroding.—
Ana Castelain,
Bloomberg,
28 Jan. 2026
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There are more of us than there will ever be of them.—
Katherine Packert Burke,
Literary Hub,
28 Jan. 2026
Verb
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And in middle and high schools, teachers are assigning more excerpts and shorter texts, in so doing crowding out whole books and resulting in less overall reading.—
Ryan Craig,
Forbes.com,
23 Jan. 2026
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Key to the truce continuing to hold is the disarming of Hamas, something that the militant group that has controlled the Palestinian territory since 2007 has refused to do, despite Israel seeing it as nonnegotiable.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
23 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Happen.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/happen. Accessed 30 Jan. 2026.
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