encounter

verb

OPAL W

/ɪnˈkaʊntə(r)/

/ɪnˈkaʊntər/

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they encounter	/ɪnˈkaʊntə(r)/ /ɪnˈkaʊntər/
he / she / it encounters	/ɪnˈkaʊntəz/ /ɪnˈkaʊntərz/
past simple encountered	/ɪnˈkaʊntəd/ /ɪnˈkaʊntərd/
past participle encountered	/ɪnˈkaʊntəd/ /ɪnˈkaʊntərd/
-ing form encountering	/ɪnˈkaʊntərɪŋ/ /ɪnˈkaʊntərɪŋ/

jump to other results

encounter something to experience something, especially something unpleasant or difficult, while you are trying to do something else synonym meet (8), run into
- We encountered a number of difficulties in the first week.
- The report details the problems encountered by families in this situation.
- I had never encountered such resistance before.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adverb
- commonly
- frequently
- often
- …
verb + encounter
- be likely to
See full entry
encounter somebody/something (formal) to meet somebody, or discover or experience something, especially somebody/something new, unusual or unexpected synonym come across
- She was the most remarkable woman he had ever encountered.
- Plant scientists first encountered the phenomenon in the 1930s.
Extra Examples
- an idea I first encountered when I was in the army
- Researchers at the isolated Arctic outpost encounter a creature from outer space.
- Walruses were commonly encountered in the Shetland Islands until quite recently.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adverb
- commonly
- frequently
- often
- …
verb + encounter
- be likely to
See full entry

Word OriginMiddle English (in the senses ‘meet as an adversary’ and ‘a meeting of adversaries’; formerly also as incounter): from Old French encontrer (verb), encontre (noun), based on Latin in- ‘in’ + contra ‘against’.

encounter

noun

OPAL W

/ɪnˈkaʊntə(r)/

/ɪnˈkaʊntər/

jump to other results

a meeting, especially one that is sudden, unexpected or violent
- a chance encounter
- encounter with somebody/something Three of them were killed in the subsequent encounter with the police.
- Flaubert was her first encounter with French literature.
- encounter between A and B The story describes the extraordinary encounter between a man and a dolphin.
- I've had a number of close encounters (= situations that could have been dangerous) with bad drivers.
- It was his first sexual encounter (= first experience of sex).
Extra Examples
- I decided not to risk a second close encounter with the snakes.
- I did not see him again, except for a brief encounter on a train.
- I had my first encounter with him two years ago.
- The whole thing was the result of a chance encounter in 1975.
- It was a chance encounter that led to the setting up of the new political party.
- A chance encounter with a former acquaintance presents him with an opportunity to make some money.
- The press conference was her first direct encounter with the media.
- examination of UFO sightings and alien encounters
- her early encounters with contemporary art
- my first encounter with my new boss
- the colonial encounter of indigenous craftsmen with Europeans
- the language we use in everyday social encounters
- violent encounters between police and protesters
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adjective
- brief
- first
- initial
- …
verb + encounter
- have
- survive
- win
- …
encounter + verb
- occur
- take place
- result in something
- …
preposition
- encounter between
- encounter with
See full entry
a sports match against a particular player or team
- She has beaten her opponent in all of their previous encounters.
- They lost their second-round encounter against Germany.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adjective
- brief
- first
- initial
- …
verb + encounter
- have
- survive
- win
- …
encounter + verb
- occur
- take place
- result in something
- …
preposition
- encounter between
- encounter with
See full entry
(Indian English) an incident in which police shoot dead a suspected criminal
- The two gangsters were later killed in a police encounter.