Definitions for encounter
ɛnˈkaʊn təren·counter

Princeton's WordNet(2.80 / 5 votes)Rate this definition:

1. brush, clash, encounter, skirmishnoun

   a minor short-term fight

2. meeting, encounternoun

   a casual or unexpected convergence

   "he still remembers their meeting in Paris"; "there was a brief encounter in the hallway"

3. encounter, coming uponnoun

   a casual meeting with a person or thing

4. confrontation, encounter, showdown, face-offverb

   a hostile disagreement face-to-face

5. meet, run into, encounter, run across, come across, seeverb

   come together

   "I'll probably see you at the meeting"; "How nice to see you again!"

6. find, happen, chance, bump, encounterverb

   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"

7. run into, encounterverb

   be beset by

   "The project ran into numerous financial difficulties"

8. meet, encounter, receiveverb

   experience as a reaction

   "My proposal met with much opposition"

9. meet, encounter, play, take onverb

   contend against an opponent in a sport, game, or battle

   "Princeton plays Yale this weekend"; "Charlie likes to play Mary"

Wiktionary(2.00 / 3 votes)Rate this definition:

1. encounternoun

   An unplanned or unexpected meeting.

   Their encounter was a matter of chance

2. encounternoun

   A hostile meeting; a confrontation or skirmish.

3. encounternoun

   A sudden, often violent clash, as between combattants

4. encounternoun

   A match between two opposing sides

5. encounterverb

   To meet (someone) or find (something) unexpectedly.

6. encounterverb

   To confront (someone or something), notably face to face.

7. encounterverb

   To engage in conflict, as with an enemy.

8. Etymology: Recorded since 1297, encountrer, encontrer, from encontre, from incontra itself from in- + contra.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. ENCOUNTERnoun

   Etymology: encontre, French.

   1. Duel; single fight; conflict.

   Thou hast beat me out
   Twelve several times, and I have nightly since
   Dreamt of encounters ’twixt thyself and me. William Shakespeare.

   Let’s leave this keen encounter of our wits,
   And fall something into a slower method. William Shakespeare, Rich. III.

   Pallas th’ encounter seeks; but e’re he throws,
   To Tuscan Tiber thus address’d his vows:
   O sacred stream, direct my flying dart,
   And give to pass the proud Halesus’ heart. John Dryden, Æn.

   2. Battle; fight in which enemies rush against each other.

   Two black clouds
   With heav’n’s artillery fraught, come rattling on
   Over the Caspian; then stand front to front,
   Hov’ring a space, ’till winds the signal blow
   To join their dark encounter in mid air. John Milton, Parad. Lost.

   3. Eager and warm conversation, either of love or anger.

   The peaking cornuto comes to me in the instant of our encounter, after we had spoke the prologue of our comedy. William Shakespeare.

   4. Accidental congress; sudden meeting.

   Propitious Pallas, to secure her care,
   Around him spread a veil of thicken’d air,
   To shun th’ encounter of the vulgar crowd. Alexander Pope, Odyssey.

   5. Accosting.

   But in what habit will you go along?
   —— Not like a woman; for I would prevent the loose encounters of lascivious men. William Shakespeare, Two Gentlemen of Verona.

   Three parts of Brutus
   Is ours already; and the man entire,
   Upon the next encounter, yields him ours. William Shakespeare, Jul. Cæs.

   6. Casual incident; occasion. This sense is scarcely English.

   An equality is not sufficient for the unity of character: ’tis further necessary, that the same spirit appear in all sort of encounters. Alexander Pope, View of Epick Poetry.

2. To Encounterverb

   Etymology: from the noun.

   1. To meet face to face.

   If I must die,
   I will encounter darkness as a bride,
   And hug it in mine arms. William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure.

   The fashion of the world is to avoid cost, and you encounter it. William Shakespeare, Much Ado about Nothing.

   Thou stronger may’st endure the flood of light;
   And, while in shades I chear my fainting sight,
   Encounter the descending excellence. John Dryden, State of Innocence.

   2. To meet in a hostile manner; to rush against in conflict.

   Putting themselves in order of battle, they encountered their enemies. Richard Knolles, History of the Turks.

   3. To meet with reciprocal kindness.

   See, they encounter thee with their hearts thanks;
   Both sides are even. William Shakespeare, Macbeth.

   4. To attack; to meet in the front.

   Which way soever we turn ourselves, we are encountered with clear evidences and sensible demonstrations of a Deity. John Tillotson, Sermon 1.

   5. To oppose; to oppugn.

   Jurors are not bound to believe two witnesses, if the probability of the fact does reasonably encounter them. Matthew Hale.

   6. To meet by accident.

   I am most fortunate thus to encounter you:
   You have ended my business, and I will merrily
   Accompany you home. William Shakespeare, Coriolanus.

3. To Encounterverb

   1. To rush together in a hostile manner; to conflict.

   And let belief and life encounter so,
   As doth the fury of two desperate men,
   Which, in the very meeting, fall and die. William Shakespeare, K. John.

   Five times, Marcius,
   Have I fought with thee; so often hast thou beat me:
   And wouldst do so, I think, should we encounter
   As often as we eat. William Shakespeare, Coriolanus.

   2. To engage; to fight.

   Our wars
   Will turn into a peaceful comick sport,
   When ladies crave to be encounter’d with. William Shakespeare, H. VI.

   Both the wings of his fleet had begun to encounter with the Christians. Richard Knolles, History of the Turks.

   Those who have the most dread of death, must in a little time be content to encounter with it, whether they will or no. William Wake, Preparation for Death.

   3. To meet face to face.4. To come together by chance.

Webster Dictionary(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Encounteradverb

   to come against face to face; to meet; to confront, either by chance, suddenly, or deliberately; especially, to meet in opposition or with hostile intent; to engage in conflict with; to oppose; to struggle with; as, to encounter a friend in traveling; two armies encounter each other; to encounter obstacles or difficulties, to encounter strong evidence of a truth

2. Encounterverb

   to meet face to face; to have a meeting; to meet, esp. as enemies; to engage in combat; to fight; as, three armies encountered at Waterloo

3. Encounterverb

   a meeting face to face; a running against; a sudden or incidental meeting; an interview

4. Encounterverb

   a meeting, with hostile purpose; hence, a combat; a battle; as, a bloody encounter

5. Etymology: [OF. encontrer; pref. en- (L. in) + contre against, L. contra. See Counter, adv.]

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Encounter

   Encounter was a literary magazine, founded in 1953 by poet Stephen Spender and early neoconservative author Irving Kristol. The magazine ceased publication in 1991. Published in the United Kingdom, it was a largely Anglo-American intellectual and cultural journal. The magazine received covert funding from the Central Intelligence Agency, after the CIA and MI6 discussed the founding of an "Anglo-American left-of-centre publication" intended to counter the idea of cold war neutralism. The magazine was rarely critical of American foreign policy, but beyond this editors had considerable publishing freedom. Spender served as literary editor until 1967, when he resigned due to the revelation that year of the covert Central Intelligence Agency funding of the magazine, of which he had heard rumors, but had not been able to confirm. Thomas W. Braden, who headed the CIA's International Organizations Division's operations between 1951 to 1954, said that the money for the magazine "came from CIA, and few outside the CIA knew about it. We had placed one agent in a Europe-based organization of intellectuals called the Congress for Cultural Freedom." Frank Kermode replaced him but he too resigned when it became clear the CIA were involved. Roy Jenkins noted that earlier contributors were aware of U.S. funding, but believed it came from philanthropists including a Cincinnati gin distiller.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Encounter

   en-kown′ter, v.t. to meet face to face, esp. unexpectedly: to meet in contest: to oppose.—n. a meeting unexpectedly: an interview: a fight: (Shak.) behaviour. [O. Fr. encontrer—L. in, in, contra, against.]

Dictionary of Nautical Terms(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. encounter

   The hostile meeting of two ships or squadrons; also, a conflict between troops.

Military Dictionary and Gazetteer(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. encounter

   A meeting with hostile purpose; hence, a combat; a battle.

2. encounter

   To come against face to face; to engage in conflict with; to oppose; as, two armies encounter each other.

Matched Categories

1. • Be
   • Convergence
   • Experience

British National Corpus

1. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'encounter' in Nouns Frequency: #2317

2. Verbs Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'encounter' in Verbs Frequency: #596

How to pronounce encounter?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say encounter in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of encounter in Chaldean Numerology is: 6

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of encounter in Pythagorean Numerology is: 7

Examples of encounter in a Sentence

1. Wendy Stovall:

   Those occur when lava flows encounter vegetated areas and vegetation burns and releases methane gas, methane pockets can get trapped underground and explode violently, throwing rocks and debris in many directions.

2. Ralph Waldo Emerson:

   If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads.

3. Geoffrey Alpert:

   That's the point of training, you want to try to calm things down in an encounter.

4. Russell County:

   I definitely think the motive was a sexual encounter.

5. Dan Maloney:

   They don't want to encounter you if they don't have to -- they would rather save their venom for something they’re going to eat rather than having to fight someone off, give them as much space as you can.

Popularity rank by frequency of use