occur

American  

[uh-kur] / əˈkɜr /

verb (used without object)

occurred, occurring

1. to happen; take place; come to pass.

   When did the accident occur?

   Synonyms:

   befall

2. to be met with or found; present itself; appear.

   Modest amounts of fructose occur naturally in fruits and vegetables.

   Synonyms:

   offer, exist, arise

3. to suggest itself in thought; come to mind (usually followed byto ).

   An idea occurred to me.

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occur British  

/ əˈkɜː /

verb

1. to happen; take place; come about

2. to be found or be present; exist

3. (foll by to) to be realized or thought of (by); suggest itself (to)

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Usage

It is usually regarded as incorrect to talk of pre-arranged events occurring or happening : the wedding took place (not occurred or happened ) in the afternoon

Related Words

See happen.

Other Word Forms

• preoccur verb (used without object)
• reoccur verb (used without object)
• unoccurring adjective

Etymology

Origin of occur

First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin occurrere “to run to meet, arrive, meet,” equivalent to oc- oc- + currere “to run”

Example Sentences

While they were on site, an explosion occurred, a company spokesperson said.

From BBC

But that just means the increases occurred at a more moderate rate; it didn’t make coverage any cheaper.

From MarketWatch

This tragedy occurred a few weeks before Christmas, so I was hoping to get new dolls to forget about the dogs.

From The Wall Street Journal

“We have not gained access to inspect the vehicle, which is critical to understanding what occurred, and it would be premature to draw conclusions at this stage,” a GM spokesman said.

From The Wall Street Journal

“This tragic and painful incident occurred during their return from an official trip from the Turkish city of Ankara,” Dbeibah said Tuesday on X.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• appear
• arise
• crop up
• develop
• ensue
• exist
• follow
• go
• materialize
• result
• show
• take place
• transpire