arrival
Americannoun
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the act or time of arriving
-
a person or thing that arrives or has arrived
-
the reaching of a condition or objective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of arrival
1350–1400; arrive + -al 2; replacing Middle English arivaille < Middle French
Explanation
An arrival is an entrance or an appearance — the act of showing up somewhere. Your arrival at your grandparents' house will no doubt be marked by great enthusiasm and many hugs. The process of arriving, or first getting to your destination, is arrival. Your sister's arrival at the airport might be delayed by bad weather, and your new kitten's arrival will be an exciting event for your whole family. Another kind of arrival is a person who's just arrived: "I easily picked her out from all the bus station arrivals."
Vocabulary lists containing arrival
List 3
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -al, -ial
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I’m pretty sure this also happens in Arrival.
From Slate • Feb. 8, 2026
Appeared in the November 12, 2025, print edition as 'Warship’s Arrival Ratchets Up Pressure on Venezuela'.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 11, 2025
Hernandez-Rodriguez, 34, was in the U.S. under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival program, or DACA, which grants work permits and deportation protections to certain immigrants brought to the U.S. as children.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 24, 2025
Villeneuve will also serve as executive producer of the new film and has received global acclaim for his recent take on the Dune franchise, along with hits such as Blade Runner 2049 and Arrival.
From BBC • Jun. 25, 2025
I'll eat "Halfway" when I reach the 1600-kilometer mark, and "Arrival" when I get there.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
