befall
to happen or occur.
Archaic. to come, as by right.
to happen to, especially by chance or fate.
Origin of befall
1Other words for befall
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use befall in a sentence
When a tragic incident suddenly befalls the fringes of her social circle, she and her 30-something friends from college start to evaluate their love lives and career goals.
A bear market at the outset of retirement can make things more challenging than a rip-roaring bull market, but there are ways to prepare yourself for the scenario that befell investors recently—and no doubt will again.
The astronauts are unaware of the catastrophe that has befallen Earth, and it falls to Augustine to warn them not to return.
Poignant The Midnight Sky wrestles with whether humankind is worth saving | Jennifer Ouellette | December 24, 2020 | Ars TechnicaThat this kind of tragedy can befall you or befall somebody that you love, should encourage us all to realize we’re in this together.
“Vaccine passports could further erode trust” | Lindsay Muscato | December 22, 2020 | MIT Technology ReviewThis kind of tragedy would never befall Arizona birders today.
A similar fate would have befallen those who borrowed against their homes to purchase calls on Apple stock last summer.
If someone were to ask me what disaster this was that had befallen my life, I might ask if they wanted the story or the truth.
If You Read This Book, You Will Not Get Married | Melissa Holbrook Pierson | August 11, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTEarlier in my youth another severe affliction had befallen me in the same month.
My Ten Years' Imprisonment | Silvio PellicoI ask if those measures had not been adopted, what would have befallen the Spanish people?
The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.III. | E. Farr and E. H. NolanThen they came back on their road & related unto Gunnhild what had befallen.
The Sagas of Olaf Tryggvason and of Harald The Tyrant (Harald Haardraade) | Snorri SturlusonMeanwhile, terrible trials had befallen the party who had started to found the Makololo Mission.
Robert Moffat | David J. DeaneStraightway did Sigurd take Olaf to the house of the Queen, and to her made known what had befallen.
The Sagas of Olaf Tryggvason and of Harald The Tyrant (Harald Haardraade) | Snorri Sturluson
British Dictionary definitions for befall
/ (bɪˈfɔːl) /
(intr) to take place; come to pass
(tr) to happen to
(intr usually foll by to) to be due, as by right
Origin of befall
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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