happens (upon)

verb

present tense third-person singular of happen (upon)
as in encounters
to come upon face-to-face or as if face-to-face happened upon the hotel manager in the lobby and promptly complained about the room

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for happens (upon)
  1. encounters
  2. meets
Verb
  • The film tells the story of Rita (Coon), a woman in midlife haunted by the weight of her past, encounters magnetic young spiritual leader Ricki (James) and leaves her family to follow her to an all-female commune.
    — Clayton Davis, Variety, 14 July 2026
  • Bar Tab Taran Dugal encounters spirits steps from Green-Wood Cemetery.
    — Marina Harss, New Yorker, 10 July 2026
Definition of encounters
Verb
  • Knowing where a company sits in the AI stack, where agentic meets generative, and how to assess servers versus storage is becoming ever more crucial for tracking the runners and riders in the AI race.
    — Leonie Kidd, CNBC, 15 July 2026
  • Norway have two players, including Erling Haaland, free at the far post when Ajer meets the ball.
    — Anantaajith Raghuraman, New York Times, 14 July 2026
Definition of meets
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.

Browse Nearby Words

happenstances
happens (upon)
happen (upon)
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Cite this Entry

“Happens (upon).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/happens%20%28upon%29. Accessed 17 Jul. 2026.

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