hit (upon)

as in to find
to come upon unexpectedly or by chance the popular belief that Sir Isaac Newton hit upon his understanding of gravity at the sight of an apple falling from a tree

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for hit (upon)
Verb
  • Sporting found some moments of control in the second half and finally got a foothold in the game again.
    Daniel Sperry, Kansas City Star, 20 Apr. 2025
  • Those few minutes sent students scrambling for cover and barricading themselves around campus until authorities found them.
    Jeanine Santucci, USA Today, 20 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • On the contrary, all the inputs people encounter, by choice or by circumstance—the news reports, the novels, the films, the celebrities, the radio shows, the billboards, the histories, the satires, the amusements, the truths, the lies—tend to end up in the same place.
    Megan Garber, The Atlantic, 29 Apr. 2025
  • While polar bears are considered a marine mammal and spend most of their life on drifting sea ice, Visit Svalbard advises visitors to be prepared to encounter a polar bear anywhere in Svalbard.
    Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 29 Apr. 2025
Verb
  • In all his years of service, Bui hardly ever came across another who shared experiences of the fall of Saigon.
    Jennifer Brookland, Mercury News, 27 Apr. 2025
  • Recommending most investors just own an S & P 500 index fund — and suggesting individual stocks are too risky for most people — comes across as denigrating your abilities.
    Jim Cramer, CNBC, 27 Apr. 2025
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.

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Cite this Entry

“Hit (upon).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hit%20%28upon%29. Accessed 2 May. 2025.

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