encounter
/in'kauntə/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
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.
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
- a hostile disagreement face-to-face
- a casual meeting with a person or thing
- a casual or unexpected convergence
- he still remembers their meeting in Paris
- there was a brief encounter in the hallway
- a minor short-term fight
Verb
- contend against an opponent in a sport, game, or battle
- Princeton plays Yale this weekend
- Charlie likes to play Mary
- experience as a reaction
- My proposal met with much opposition
- be beset by
- The project ran into numerous financial difficulties
- 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
- come together
- I'll probably see you at the meeting
- How nice to see you again!