ENCOUNTER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does encounter mean? 

• ENCOUNTER (noun)
  The noun ENCOUNTER has 4 senses:

1. a minor short-term fight

2. a casual or unexpected convergence

3. a casual meeting with a person or thing

4. a hostile disagreement face-to-face

  Familiarity information: ENCOUNTER used as a noun is uncommon.

• ENCOUNTER (verb)
  The verb ENCOUNTER has 5 senses:

1. come together

2. come upon, as if by accident; meet with

3. be beset by

4. experience as a reaction

5. contend against an opponent in a sport, game, or battle

  Familiarity information: ENCOUNTER used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ENCOUNTER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A minor short-term fight

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

brush; clash; encounter; skirmish

Hypernyms ("encounter" is a kind of...):

combat; fight; fighting; scrap (the act of fighting; any contest or struggle)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "encounter"):

contretemps (an awkward clash)

Derivation:

encounter (contend against an opponent in a sport, game, or battle)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A casual or unexpected convergence

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

encounter; meeting

Context example:

there was a brief encounter in the hallway

Hypernyms ("encounter" is a kind of...):

convergence (the occurrence of two or more things coming together)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "encounter"):

alignment; conjunction ((astronomy) apparent meeting or passing of two or more celestial bodies in the same degree of the zodiac)

Derivation:

encounter (come upon, as if by accident; meet with)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A casual meeting with a person or thing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

coming upon; encounter

Hypernyms ("encounter" is a kind of...):

connection; connexion; joining (the act of bringing two things into contact (especially for communication))

Derivation:

encounter (come together)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A hostile disagreement face-to-face

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

confrontation; encounter; face-off; showdown

Hypernyms ("encounter" is a kind of...):

disagreement (the speech act of disagreeing or arguing or disputing)

• ENCOUNTER (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they encounter    ... he / she / it encounters   
Past simple: encountered   
Past participle: encountered   
-ing form: encountering   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Come together

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

come across; encounter; meet; run across; run into; see

Context example:

How nice to see you again!

Verb group:

assemble; foregather; forgather; gather; meet (collect in one place)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "encounter"):

cross; intersect (meet at a point)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

encounter (a casual meeting with a person or thing)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Come upon, as if by accident; meet with

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Synonyms:

bump; chance; encounter; find; happen

Context example:

She chanced upon an interesting book in the bookstore the other day

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

encounter (a casual or unexpected convergence)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Be beset by

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

encounter; run into

Context example:

The project ran into numerous financial difficulties

Hypernyms (to "encounter" is one way to...):

be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Experience as a reaction

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

encounter; meet; receive

Context example:

My proposal met with much opposition

Hypernyms (to "encounter" is one way to...):

experience; have (undergo)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 5

Meaning:

Contend against an opponent in a sport, game, or battle

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Synonyms:

encounter; meet; play; take on

Context example:

Charlie likes to play Mary

"Encounter" entails doing...:

compete; contend; vie (compete for something; engage in a contest; measure oneself against others)

Verb group:

play (participate in games or sport)

play (employ in a game or in a specific position)

play (use or move)

play (shoot or hit in a particular manner)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "encounter"):

confront; face (oppose, as in hostility or a competition)

replay (repeat a game against the same opponent)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

encounter (a minor short-term fight)

 Context examples 

The resulting encountered values are Hounsfield units and range from -1000 for air to + several hundred for very dense tissue, with water being zero.

(CT Number, NCI Thesaurus)

We walked on, arm-in-arm, again; found the coach in the act of starting; and arrived at Highgate without encountering any difficulties by the way.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

And he was never averse to another encounter.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

A mature T lymphocyte that has encountered antigen at a previous time and is primed to react strongly during its next encounter with that antigen.

(CD4 Positive Memory T-Lymphocyte, NCI Thesaurus)

An individual, such as a physician or nurse practitioner, who takes responsibility for a patient's care during an encounter.

(Clinician, NCI Thesaurus)

Method of charging whereby a physician or other practitioner bills for each encounter or service rendered.

(Fee for Service Payment Method, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

Unusual tumor affecting any site of the body, but most often encountered in the head and neck.

(Granular Cell Tumor, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

In consequence, the strange dogs he encountered had no chance against him.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Even when taking in fewer calories and nutrients, humans and other mammals usually remain protected against infectious diseases they have already encountered.

(Memory T cells shelter in bone marrow, boosting immunity in mice with restricted diets, National Institutes of Health)

A conscious or unconscious refusal to encounter situations, activities, or objects; the act or practice of keeping away from or withdrawing from something.

(Avoidance, NCI Thesaurus)