Definition

1. Noun:

   • A casual or unexpected meeting: An unplanned or chance coming together with a person or thing.
   • A hostile confrontation or disagreement: A face-to-face argument, clash, or brief fight.
   • An instance of experiencing or facing something: An event where one comes up against a particular situation, problem, or force.

2. Verb:

   • To meet, especially unexpectedly or by chance: To come upon someone or something without planning.
   • To be faced with or experience something, typically something difficult or challenging: To have to deal with a problem, opposition, or difficult situation.
   • To confront or engage with in a conflict or contest: To come into conflict or competition with someone or something.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • I had a pleasant encounter with an old friend at the market.
  • The two rival groups had a violent encounter outside the stadium.
  • His first encounter with the new software was frustrating.

• Verb:

  • She encountered her former teacher while traveling in Rome.
  • The research team encountered several obstacles during the experiment.
  • The young knight prepared to encounter the dragon.

Advanced Usage

• "Close encounter": A very near or direct meeting, often used in contexts like UFO sightings or intense personal experiences.

  • He described his experience as a close encounter of the third kind.

• "To have an encounter with": To experience a meeting or confrontation with someone or something.

  • The diplomat had a tense encounter with the foreign press.

Variants and Related Words

• Re-encounter (verb/noun): To meet or experience again.
  • They re-encountered the same issue years later.

Synonyms

• Noun: Meeting, confrontation, clash, brush, rendezvous.
• Verb: Meet, come across, run into, face, confront, experience.

Related Phrasal Verbs

(Note: "Encounter" is not commonly used to form phrasal verbs. Its meanings are typically expressed directly.)

Related Idioms

• "A fateful encounter": A meeting that has significant, often negative, consequences for the future.

  • Their fateful encounter on the battlefield changed the course of the war.

• "To encounter resistance": To face opposition or pushback.

  • The new policy encountered resistance from the staff.

Noun

1. a hostile disagreement face-to-face
2. a casual meeting with a person or thing
3. a casual or unexpected convergence
   • he still remembers their meeting in Paris
   • there was a brief encounter in the hallway
4. a minor short-term fight

Verb

1. contend against an opponent in a sport, game, or battle
   • Princeton plays Yale this weekend
   • Charlie likes to play Mary
2. experience as a reaction
   • My proposal met with much opposition
3. be beset by
   • The project ran into numerous financial difficulties
4. come upon, as if by accident; meet with
   • We find this idea in Plato
   • I happened upon the most wonderful bakery not very far from here
   • She chanced upon an interesting book in the bookstore the other day
5. come together
   • I'll probably see you at the meeting
   • How nice to see you again!