encounter


Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Acronyms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

en·coun·ter

 (ĕn-koun′tər)
n.
1. A meeting, especially one that is unplanned, unexpected, or brief: a chance encounter in the park.
2. A hostile or adversarial confrontation: a tense naval encounter.
v. en·coun·tered, en·coun·ter·ing, en·coun·ters
v.tr.
1. To meet, especially unexpectedly; come upon: encountered an old friend on the street.
2. To confront in battle or competition: encountered last year's champion.
3. To experience or undergo: We have encountered numerous obstacles.
v.intr.
To meet, especially unexpectedly.

[Middle English encountre, from Old French, from encontrer, to meet, from Late Latin incontrāre : Latin in-, in; see en-1 + Latin contrā, against; see kom in Indo-European roots.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

encounter

(ɪnˈkaʊntə)
vb
1. to come upon or meet casually or unexpectedly
2. to come into conflict with (an enemy, army, etc) in battle or contest
3. (tr) to be faced with; contend with: he encounters many obstacles in his work.
n
4. a meeting with a person or thing, esp when casual or unexpected
5. a hostile meeting; contest or conflict
[C13: from Old French encontrer, from Vulgar Latin incontrāre (unattested), from Latin in-2 + contrā against, opposite]
enˈcounterer n
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

en•coun•ter

(ɛnˈkaʊn tər)

v.t.
1. to come upon or meet with, esp. unexpectedly.
2. to meet with or contend against (difficulties, opposition, etc.).
3. to meet (a person, military force, etc.) in conflict.
v.i.
4. to meet, esp. unexpectedly or in conflict.
n.
5. a meeting with a person or thing, esp. a casual, unexpected, or brief meeting.
6. a meeting of people or groups that are in conflict; combat; battle.
[1250–1300; Middle English < Anglo-French enco(u)ntrer; Old French < Vulgar Latin *incontrāre=in- in-1 + -contrāre, derivative of contrā against; see counter3]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

encounter


Past participle: encountered
Gerund: encountering

Imperative
encounter
encounter
Present
I encounter
you encounter
he/she/it encounters
we encounter
you encounter
they encounter
Preterite
I encountered
you encountered
he/she/it encountered
we encountered
you encountered
they encountered
Present Continuous
I am encountering
you are encountering
he/she/it is encountering
we are encountering
you are encountering
they are encountering
Present Perfect
I have encountered
you have encountered
he/she/it has encountered
we have encountered
you have encountered
they have encountered
Past Continuous
I was encountering
you were encountering
he/she/it was encountering
we were encountering
you were encountering
they were encountering
Past Perfect
I had encountered
you had encountered
he/she/it had encountered
we had encountered
you had encountered
they had encountered
Future
I will encounter
you will encounter
he/she/it will encounter
we will encounter
you will encounter
they will encounter
Future Perfect
I will have encountered
you will have encountered
he/she/it will have encountered
we will have encountered
you will have encountered
they will have encountered
Future Continuous
I will be encountering
you will be encountering
he/she/it will be encountering
we will be encountering
you will be encountering
they will be encountering
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been encountering
you have been encountering
he/she/it has been encountering
we have been encountering
you have been encountering
they have been encountering
Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been encountering
you will have been encountering
he/she/it will have been encountering
we will have been encountering
you will have been encountering
they will have been encountering
Past Perfect Continuous
I had been encountering
you had been encountering
he/she/it had been encountering
we had been encountering
you had been encountering
they had been encountering
Conditional
I would encounter
you would encounter
he/she/it would encounter
we would encounter
you would encounter
they would encounter
Past Conditional
I would have encountered
you would have encountered
he/she/it would have encountered
we would have encountered
you would have encountered
they would have encountered
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.encounter - a minor short-term fightencounter - a minor short-term fight    
contretemps - an awkward clash; "he tried to smooth over his contretemps with the policeman"
fighting, combat, fight, scrap - the act of fighting; any contest or struggle; "a fight broke out at the hockey game"; "there was fighting in the streets"; "the unhappy couple got into a terrible scrap"
2.encounter - a casual or unexpected convergenceencounter - a casual or unexpected convergence; "he still remembers their meeting in Paris"; "there was a brief encounter in the hallway"
convergence - the occurrence of two or more things coming together
alignment, conjunction - (astronomy) apparent meeting or passing of two or more celestial bodies in the same degree of the zodiac
3.encounter - a casual meeting with a person or thing
joining, connexion, connection - the act of bringing two things into contact (especially for communication); "the joining of hands around the table"; "there was a connection via the internet"
4.encounter - a hostile disagreement face-to-faceencounter - a hostile disagreement face-to-face
disagreement - the speech act of disagreeing or arguing or disputing
Verb1.encounter - come togetherencounter - come together; "I'll probably see you at the meeting"; "How nice to see you again!"
intersect, cross - meet at a point
foregather, forgather, gather, assemble, meet - collect in one place; "We assembled in the church basement"; "Let's gather in the dining room"
2.encounter - 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"
3.encounter - be beset by; "The project ran into numerous financial difficulties"
be - have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun); "John is rich"; "This is not a good answer"
4.encounter - experience as a reaction; "My proposal met with much opposition"
experience, have - undergo; "The stocks had a fast run-up"
5.encounter - contend against an opponent in a sport, game, or battle; "Princeton plays Yale this weekend"; "Charlie likes to play Mary"
play - participate in games or sport; "We played hockey all afternoon"; "play cards"; "Pele played for the Brazilian teams in many important matches"
confront, face - oppose, as in hostility or a competition; "You must confront your opponent"; "Jackson faced Smith in the boxing ring"; "The two enemies finally confronted each other"
play - employ in a game or in a specific position; "They played him on first base"
play - use or move; "I had to play my queen"
play - shoot or hit in a particular manner; "She played a good backhand last night"
replay - repeat a game against the same opponent; "Princeton replayed Harvard"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

encounter

verb
1. experience, meet, face, suffer, have, go through, sustain, endure, undergo, run into, live through Every day we encounter stresses of one kind or another.
2. meet, confront, come across, run into (informal), bump into (informal), run across, come upon, chance upon, meet by chance, happen on or upon Did you encounter anyone on your walk?
3. battle with, attack, fight, oppose, engage with, confront, combat, clash with, contend with, strive against, struggle with, grapple with, face off (slang), do battle with, cross swords with, come into conflict with, meet head on They were about to cross the border and encounter Iraqi troops.
noun
1. meeting, brush, confrontation, rendezvous, chance meeting an encounter with a remarkable man
2. battle, fight, action, conflict, clash, dispute, contest, set to (informal), run-in (informal), combat, confrontation, engagement, collision, skirmish, head-to-head, face-off (slang) They were killed in an encounter with security forces near the border.
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

encounter

verb
1. To come up against:
2. To meet face-to-face, especially defiantly:
3. To enter into conflict with:
Idiom: do battle with.
noun
1. A face-to-face, usually hostile meeting:
2. A brief, hostile exposure to or contact with something such as danger or opposition:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
لِقاء غَيْر مُتَوَقَّعمُواجَهَه، صِداميُصادِف، يَلْتَقي صُدْفَةًيُواجِه
komme ud formødesammenstødtræffe
renkonto
kohdatakohtaaminenyhteenotto
összeakadösszecsapásszembekerültalálkozás
bardagihitta, mætasamfundur
susitikimassusitikti
sadursmesadurtiessastapšanāssastaptsatikšanās
întâlni
naleteti na kogasrečanje

encounter

[ɪnˈkaʊntəʳ]
A. N (= meeting, fight) → encuentro m
B. VT [+ person] → encontrar, encontrarse con; [+ difficulty, danger, enemy] → tropezar con
C. CPD encounter group Ngrupo m de encuentro
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

encounter

[ɪnˈkaʊntər]
nrencontre f
an encounter with sb → une rencontre avec qn
to have an encounter with sb → faire la rencontre de qn
an encounter with sth → une rencontre avec qch
a sexual encounter → un rapport sexuel
vt
(= meet) [+ person] → rencontrer
(= come across) [+ problem, difficulty] → rencontrerencounter group n (PSYCHOLOGY, PSYCHIATRY)séance f de psychothérapie de groupe
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

encounter

vt enemy, oppositiontreffen or stoßen auf (+acc); difficulties, resistancestoßen auf (+acc); dangergeraten in (+acc); (liter) personbegegnen (+dat), → treffen; to encounter enemy fireunter feindlichen Beschuss geraten
nBegegnung f, → Treffen nt; (in battle) → Zusammenstoß m; chance encounterzufällige Begegnung; sexual encountersexuelle Erfahrung; close encounter (Space: = near miss) → Beinahezusammenstoß m; (with aliens) → unheimliche Begegnung
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

encounter

[ɪnˈkaʊntəʳ]
1. vt (person) → incontrare; (difficulty, danger, enemy) → imbattersi in
2. nincontro
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

encounter

(inˈkauntə) verb
1. to meet especially unexpectedly. She encountered the manager in the hall.
2. to meet with (difficulties etc). I expect to encounter many difficulties in the course of this job.
noun
1. a meeting. I feel that I know him quite well, even after a brief encounter.
2. a fight. The encounter between the armies was fierce.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
References in classic literature ?
``Bois-Guilbert,'' answered De Bracy, ``is a good lance; but there are others around these lists, Sir Prior, who will not fear to encounter him.''
Skulls he did not encounter, for the skulls that belonged to the scattered bones ornamented the devil devil houses in the upland bush villages.
As we followed it north we began to encounter the dreaded sea-fogs.
The ape's mate, recovered from its first shock of terror, had returned to the scene of the encounter by way of the interior of the building.
After the encounter at Vyazma, where Kutuzov had been unable to hold back his troops in their anxiety to overwhelm and cut off the enemy and so on, the farther movement of the fleeing French, and of the Russians who pursued them, continued as far as Krasnoe without a battle.
Good-humored, easy, and careless, he presided over his whale-boat as if the most deadly encounter were but a dinner, and his crew all invited guests.
I knew that our worthy captain, who felt, such a paternal solicitude for the welfare of his crew, would not willingly consent that one of his best hands should encounter the perils of a sojourn among the natives of a barbarous island; and I was certain that in the event of my disappearance, his fatherly anxiety would prompt him to offer, by way of a reward, yard upon yard of gaily printed calico for my apprehension.
The idea of Marner's money kept growing in vividness, now the want of it had become immediate; the prospect of having to make his appearance with the muddy boots of a pedestrian at Batherley, and to encounter the grinning queries of stablemen, stood unpleasantly in the way of his impatience to be back at Raveloe and carry out his felicitous plan; and a casual visitation of his waistcoat-pocket, as he was ruminating, awakened his memory to the fact that the two or three small coins his forefinger encountered there were of too pale a colour to cover that small debt, without payment of which the stable-keeper had declared he would never do any more business with Dunsey Cass.
I had even a certain wish to encounter Moreau face to face; and as I had waded into the water, I remembered that if I were too hard pressed at least one path of escape from torment still lay open to me,--they could not very well prevent my drowning myself.
Neither wished to turn back and give way, nor did either at first desire to precipitate an encounter. The lions were fed sufficiently so as not to be goaded by pangs of hunger and as for Tarzan he seldom ate the meat of the carnivores; but a point of ethics was at stake and neither side wished to back down.
Then Sir Brian de les Isles and Grummore Grummorsum, knights of the castle, encountered with Sir Aglovale and Sir Tor, and Sir Tor smote down Sir Grummore Grummorsum to the earth.
A HOUND, who in the days of his youth and strength had never yielded to any beast of the forest, encountered in his old age a boar in the chase.