happen

verb

hap·​pen ˈha-pən 

-pᵊm

happened; happening ˈhap-niŋ 

ˈha-pə-

intransitive verb

1

: to occur by chance

—often used with it

it so happens I'm going your way

2

: to come into being or occur as an event, process, or result

mistakes will happen

3

: to do, encounter, or attain something by or as if by chance

I happen to know the answer

4

a

: to meet or discover something by chance

happened upon a system that worked

—Richard Corbin

b

: to come or go casually : make a chance appearance

he might happen by at any time

5

: to come especially by way of injury or harm

I promise nothing will happen to you

Synonyms

• be
• befall
• betide
• chance
• come
• come about
• come down
• come off
• cook
• do
• go down [slang]
• go on
• hap
• occur
• pass
• transpire

Examples of happen in a Sentence

Something like that was bound to happen sooner or later.

You never know what's going to happen when they get together.

What happened at school today?

“What's happening?” “They're installing new equipment.”

Recent Examples on the Web

Roberta Parks, a professor at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith and an astronomy enthusiast, said the moment of totality will happen at 1:51 p.m. and last for two minutes. —Sadie Lacicero, arkansasonline.com, 7 Apr. 2024

This happens frequently when landing at certain airports with parallel runways, such as San Francisco International Airport (SFO). —Stefanie Waldek, Travel + Leisure, 7 Apr. 2024

Weekend Update An earthquake happened in New York City — or did it? —Andy Hoglund, EW.com, 7 Apr. 2024

An unfortunate event happens with the dog being separated from them. —Charlotte Phillipp, Peoplemag, 7 Apr. 2024

The same happens during an eclipse when darkness comes at a different time. —Marina Johnson, The Indianapolis Star, 7 Apr. 2024

Additionally, the National Earthquake Information Center reports around 55 earthquakes happen a day around the globe, caused by movement between the earth’s tectonic plates on active or inactive faults. —Mallory Moench, TIME, 7 Apr. 2024

Temperatures fell 11 degrees over just one hour in Douglas, Wyoming, and widespread temperature drops of 4 to 8 degrees happened across the South. —Mary Gilbert, CNN, 7 Apr. 2024

The living, unhurt Beecher residents were slowly beginning to realize what had happened. —Jerome Hansen, Jack Schermerhorn, Ralph Nelson and Ken McCormick, Detroit Free Press, 6 Apr. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from hap

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing happen

• disaster waiting to happen
• happen along
• happen into
• happen to
• happen by
• happen on/upon

Kids Definition

happen

verb

hap·​pen ˈhap-ən 

ˈhap-ᵊm

happened; happening ˈhap-(ə-)niŋ 

1

: to occur or come about by chance

2

: to take place : occur

3

: to have occasion or opportunity

happened to overhear

4

a

: to meet or find something by chance

happened upon the right answer

b

: to appear casually or by chance

happened into the room just as the music started

5

: to come by way of injury or harm

nothing will happen to you

Etymology

Middle English happenen "to occur by chance," from hap "chance, chance occurrence" — related to happy, mishap, perhaps