Adjacent Words

Happen definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

HAP'PEN, v.i. hap'n.
1. To come by chance; to come without one's previous expectation; to fall out.
There shall no evil happen to the just. Proverbs 12.
2. To come; to befall.
They talked together of all those things which had happened. Luke 24.
3. To light; to fall or come unexpectedly.
I have happened on some other accounts relating to mortalities.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: come to pass; "What is happening?"; "The meeting took place off without an incidence"; "Nothing occurred that seemed important" [syn: happen, hap, go on, pass off, occur, pass, fall out, come about, take place]
2: happen, occur, or be the case in the course of events or by chance; "It happens that today is my birthday"; "These things befell" (Santayana) [syn: happen, befall, bechance]
3: chance to be or do something, without intention or causation; "I happen to have just what you need!"
4: come into being; become reality; "Her dream really materialized" [syn: happen, materialize, materialise] [ant: dematerialise, dematerialize]
5: 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" [syn: find, happen, chance, bump, encounter]

Merriam Webster's

intransitive verb (happened; happening) Etymology: Middle English, from hap Date: 14th century 1. to occur by chance — often used with it <it so happens I'm going your way> 2. to come into being or occur as an event, process, or result <mistakes will happen> 3. to do, encounter, or attain something by or as if by chance <I happen to know the answer> 4. a. to meet or discover something by chance <happened upon a system that worked — Richard Corbin> b. to come or go casually ; make a chance appearance <he might happen by at any time> 5. to come especially by way of injury or harm <I promise nothing will happen to you>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & adv. --v.intr. 1 occur (by chance or otherwise). 2 (foll. by to + infin.) have the (good or bad) fortune to (I happened to meet her). 3 (foll. by to) be the (esp. unwelcome) fate or experience of (what happened to you?; I hope nothing happens to them). 4 (foll. by on) encounter or discover by chance. --adv. N.Engl. dial. perhaps, maybe (happen it'll rain). Phrases and idioms: as it happens in fact; in reality (as it happens, it turned out well). Etymology: ME f. HAP + -EN(1)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Happen Hap"pen, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Happened; p. pr. & vb. n. Happening.] [OE. happenen, hapnen. See Hap to happen.] 1. To come by chance; to come without previous expectation; to fall out. There shall no evil happen to the just. --Prov. xii. 21. 2. To take place; to occur. All these things which had happened. --Luke xxiv. 14. To happen on, to meet with; to fall or light upon. ``I have happened on some other accounts.'' --Graunt. To happen in, to make a casual call. [Colloq.]

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(happens, happening, happened) Frequency: The word is one of the 700 most common words in English. 1. Something that happens occurs or is done without being planned. We cannot say for sure what will happen... VERB: V 2. If something happens, it occurs as a result of a situation or course of action. She wondered what would happen if her parents found her... He trotted to the truck and switched on the ignition. Nothing happened. VERB: V, V 3. When something, especially something unpleasant, happens to you, it takes place and affects you. If we had been spotted at that point, I don't know what would have happened to us... VERB: V to n 4. If you happen to do something, you do it by chance. If it happens that something is the case, it occurs by chance. We happened to discover we had a friend in common... If it happens that I'm wanted badly somewhere, my mother will take the call and phone through to me here. VERB: V to-inf, it V that 5. You use as it happens in order to introduce a statement, especially one that is rather surprising. She called Amy to see if she had any idea of her son's whereabouts. As it happened, Amy had. PHRASE: V inflects, PHR with cl

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

hap'-'-n (qarah; sumbaino): "Happen" (from "hap"), "to fall out," "befall," etc., "come to anyone," is the translation of qarah, "to meet," etc. (1Sa 28:10, "There shall no punishment happen to thee," the Revised Version margin "guilt come upon thee"; 2Sa 1:6; Es 4:7; Ec 2:14,15; 9:11 Isa 41:22); of qara', "to meet," "cause to happen," etc. (2Sa 20:1); of hayah, "to be" (1Sa 6:9, "It was a chance that happened to us"); of nagha', "to touch," "to come to" (Ec 8:14 bis). In the New Testament it is in several instances the translation of sumbaino, "to go" or "come up together" "to happen" (Mr 10:32; Lu 24:14; Ac 3:10; 1Co 10:11; 1Pe 4:12; 2Pe 2:22); once of ginomai, "to become," "to happen" (Ro 11:25, the Revised Version (British and American), "befallen"). "Happeneth" occurs (Ec 2:15, as it happeneth to the fool" (miqreh); /APC 2Esdras 10:6; Baruch 3:10 (ti estin)). The Revised Version (British and American) supplies "that happened" for "were done" (Lu 24:35).

See also CHANGE.

W. L. Walker

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. n. Chance, occur, befall, betide, come, take place, turn up, fall out, come to pass.

Moby Thesaurus

be found, be met with, be realized, bechance, become of, befall, betide, break, bump, chance, come, come about, come along, come down, come off, come to pass, come true, come upon, cook, develop, do, encounter, eventuate, fall, fall out, find, give, go, go off, go on, hap, happen along, happen by chance, hazard, hit, light, luck, materialize, meet, meet with, occur, pass, pass off, pop up, prove, rise, stumble, stumble on, stumble upon, take place, transpire, tumble, turn out, turn up