happen

[ hap-uhn ]

See synonyms for: happen happened happening happens on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object)

to take place; come to pass; occur: Something interesting is always happening in New York.
to come to pass by chance; occur without apparent reason or design: Don't ask me what caused it—it just happened, that's all.

to have the fortune or lot (to do or be as specified); chance: I happened to see him on the street.
to befall, as to a person or thing: Something dreadful has happened to me.
to meet or discover by chance (usually followed by on or upon): to happen on a clue to a mystery.
to be, come, go, etc., casually or by chance: My friend happened along.
Slang. to be very exciting or interesting: That party was happening!

Origin of happen

First recorded in 1300–50, happen is from the Middle English word hap(pe)nen. See hap¹, -en¹

synonym study For happen

1. Happen, chance, occur refer to the taking place of an event. Happen, which originally denoted the taking place by hap or chance, is now the most general word for coming to pass: Something has happened. Chance suggests the accidental nature of an event: It chanced to rain that day. Occur is often interchangeable with happen, but is more formal, and is usually more specific as to time and event: His death occurred the following year.

Other words for happen

betide

See synonyms for happen on Thesaurus.com

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use happen in a sentence

What’s happening now is a public race to secure a handful of votes from the new San Diego City Council members.
VOSD Podcast: Why Montgomery Steppe Wants to Be Council President | Nate John | November 20, 2020 | Voice of San Diego
I think that happens from being at a program, being doubted before, being young, with people telling you what you can and can’t do and stuff like that.
Wizards’ plan for John Wall involves fewer minutes, more run for Ish Smith, Cassius Winston | Ava Wallace | November 20, 2020 | Washington Post
Because, as Hagon told me, “without those basic things that have to happen at the community level, that have to be designed with and by the community, then you’re not going to save lives.”
Natural disasters are increasing. The world’s poorest are left to fend for themselves. | Jariel Arvin | November 20, 2020 | Vox
These past two weeks, we didn’t really know what was going to happen with the game on Saturday.
Navy will host Memphis and Tulsa to make up games postponed by coronavirus issues | Kareem Copeland | November 20, 2020 | Washington Post
It can’t decideThe person receiving an alert doesn’t know who they were exposed to, or even when exactly it happened.
A covid-fighting tool is buried in your phone. Turn it on. | Geoffrey Fowler | November 20, 2020 | Washington Post

“I think the types of stories we do are very similar to what happened with hip-hop,” says Jones.
‘Black Dynamite’ Presents Police Brutality: The Musical | Stereo Williams | January 9, 2015 | THE DAILY BEAST
What happened to true love knows no boundaries and all that?
Freaking Out About Age Gaps in Gay Relationships Is Homophobic | Samantha Allen | January 9, 2015 | THE DAILY BEAST
As soon as this attack [happened], Paris citizens came together to show were are not afraid, we are Charlie Hebdo.
France Kills Charlie Hebdo Murderers | Nico Hines | January 9, 2015 | THE DAILY BEAST
The St. Thomas gathering happened around 2005, according to Krauss.
Sleazy Billionaire’s Double Life Featured Beach Parties With Stephen Hawking | M.L. Nestel | January 8, 2015 | THE DAILY BEAST
The big slug happened to hit the suspect in the street, passing through his arm and then striking Police Officer Andrew Dossi.
Shot Down During the NYPD Slowdown | Michael Daly | January 7, 2015 | THE DAILY BEAST
Strathland would bundle me out in ten minutes if anything happened to Jack.
Ancestors | Gertrude Atherton
I want to see the sort of thing happening to schools that has already happened to many sorts of retail shops.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation | H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
When we came in he looked indisposed and nervous, and there happened to be a good many artists there.
Music-Study in Germany | Amy Fay
He leaped out to see what had happened, and, after a few perplexed and exhausting moments, remembered.
The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol | William J. Locke
He took mental inventory of his possessions and what he could lay claim to, and he happened to think about his wife's homestead.
The Homesteader | Oscar Micheaux

British Dictionary definitions for happen

happen

/ (ˈhæpən) /

verb

(intr) (of an event in time) to come about or take place; occur
(intr foll by to) (of some unforeseen circumstance or event, esp death), to fall to the lot (of); be a source of good or bad fortune (to): if anything happens to me, it'll be your fault

(tr) to chance (to be or do something): I happen to know him
(tr; takes a clause as object) to be the case, esp if by chance, that: it happens that I know him

adverb, sentence substitute

Northern English dialect
- another word for perhaps
- (as sentence modifier): happen I'll see thee tomorrow

Origin of happen

C14: see hap 1, -en 1

happen

See occur

Collins 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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