happen

[ hap-uhn ]

/ ˈhæp ən /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR happen 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!

Nearby words

Origin of happen

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

SYNONYMS FOR happen

1. betide. 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.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR happen ON THESAURUS.COM

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for happens

So, what happens if nothing in his training has replicated such a dire condition?
Flight 8501 Poses Question: Are Modern Jets Too Automated to Fly?|Clive Irving|January 4, 2015|DAILY BEAST
But this is also what happens sometimes to actresses (and journalists) when someone hits it big.
Brie Larson’s Hollywood Transformation|Marlow Stern|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
“It happens very often that the form smothers the content,” he says.
Christoph Waltz on Bond, Burton, and Channeling His Inner Darkness|Marlow Stern|December 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Just ask Darren Sharper what happens if your sporting career suddenly falters.
Jameis Winston Cleared of Rape Like Every Other College Sports Star|Robert Silverman|December 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST

It happens, of course, but the less time a person is sick, the better their chances of recovery.
You’re Never ‘Cured’ of an Eating Disorder|Carrie Arnold|December 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But after all he had to go some time; and then what happens?
Archibald Malmaison|Julian Hawthorne
In times of peace they have little to do, and so it happens that we are forever quarrelling with those who live near at hand.
With Wolseley to Kumasi|F.S. Brereton
But the true meaning, as so often happens, lived on, when men spoke with unconscious correctness of S. Olds.
Oxford and its Story|Cecil Headlam
Will you tell me how it happens that Mlle. Moreau's name and address are written in pencil on the back of this card?
Avarice-Anger:|Eugne Sue
That is what happens when you telephone, but when you realize it the mystery gains rather than decreases.
Historic Inventions|Rupert S. Holland

British Dictionary definitions for happens

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, thatit happens that I know him

adverb, sentence substitute

Northern English dialect

another word for perhaps
(as sentence modifier)happen I'll see thee tomorrow

Word Origin for happen

C14: see hap 1, -en 1

xref

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

Word Origin and History for happens

happen

c.1300, "to come to pass, occur," originally "occur by hap, to have the (good or bad) fortune (to do, be, etc.);" see hap (n.). Replaced Old English gelimpan, gesceon, and Middle English befall. In Middle English fel it hap meant "it happened." Related: Happened; happening.