happen on/upon sth/sb
literary— phrasal verb with happen uk/ˈhæp.ən/us/ˈhæp.ən/verb [ I ]
to find or meet something or someone by chance:
Eventually they happened on a road leading across the desert.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Finding and discovering
- a fishing expedition idiom
- alight
- ascertain
- break fresh/new ground idiom
- breakthrough
- catch sb red-handed idiom
- flush
- get hold of idiom
- get wind of sth idiom
- happen
- have a (good) nose for sth idiom
- have got something there idiom
- root sth/sb out
- run sb/sth to ground idiom
- scent
- search
- search sth/sb out
- smell
- sniff sth out
- stumble
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