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# encounter

«encounter» in Mova's school dictionary: **to meet someone or something, often by chance or…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

### part of speech

verb (encounter, encounters, encountered, encountering); noun (an encounter, encounters)

### meaning for a pupil

1) To encounter means to meet someone or something, often by chance or unexpectedly: "we encountered a bear". [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/encounter/#m1)

2) To encounter a problem or difficulty means to face it: "we encountered heavy traffic". [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/encounter/#m2)

3) (noun) An encounter is a meeting, especially an unexpected, strange or dangerous one. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/encounter/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In stories, heroes encounter monsters, strangers and problems, and these encounters drive the plot. In science, a close encounter with an animal is a sighting up close. In formal and exam language "encounter" replaces "meet" or "come across". Phrases: encounter difficulties, a chance encounter, a close encounter, encounter with.

### examples

- On our walk we encountered a fox. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/encounter/#x1)
- The explorers encountered many dangers. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/encounter/#x2)
- If you encounter any problems, ask the teacher. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/encounter/#x3)
- It was a chance encounter at the shops. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/encounter/#x4)
- Our first encounter with snow was magical. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/encounter/#x5)
- In the jungle they had a close encounter with a snake. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/encounter/#x6)
- We encountered heavy rain on the way home. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/encounter/#x7)
- In comfortable rooms they encounter hospitality and friendly faces. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/encounter/#x8)

### note

Past form: encountered. "An encounter". It is more formal than "meet" or "come across". Usually something unplanned.

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «encounter» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/encounter/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.