WordWeb Online

1. Accidentally be in the same place and interact with (someone)
   "How nice to encounter you again!";
   - meet, run into, run across, come across, see
    
2. Come upon, as if by accident; meet with
   "We encounter this idea in Plato";
   - find, happen, chance, bump
    
3. Be beset by
   "The project encountered numerous financial difficulties";
   - run into
    
4. Experience as a reaction
   - meet, receive
    
5. Contend against an opponent in a sport, game, or battle
   "Princeton encounters Yale this weekend";
   - meet, play, take on

1. A minor short-term fight
   - brush, clash, skirmish
    
2. A casual or unexpected convergence
   "there was a brief encounter in the hallway";
   - meeting
    
3. A casual meeting with a person or thing
   - coming upon
    
4. A hostile disagreement face-to-face
   - confrontation, showdown, face-off, smackdown [N. Amer, informal]

Derived forms: encountering, encountered, encounters

Type of: be, combat, connection, connexion [Brit], convergence, disagreement, experience, fight, fighting, have, joining, scrap, undergo

Encyclopedia: Encounter