meet
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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meets,
present (3rd person singular)
-
met,
past participle, past
-
meeting
present participle
-
to come upon; come into the presence of; encounter.
I would meet him on the street at unexpected moments.
-
to become acquainted with; be introduced to.
I've never met your cousin.
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to join at an agreed or designated place or time.
Meet me in St. Louis.
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to be present at the arrival of.
to meet a train.
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to come to or before (one's notice, or a means of noticing, as the eyes or ears).
A peculiar sight met my eyes.
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to come into the company of (a person, group, etc.) in dealings, conference, etc.
-
to face, eye, etc., directly or without avoidance.
- Synonyms:
- confront
-
to come into physical contact, juxtaposition, or collision with.
The two cars met each other head-on at high speed.
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to encounter in opposition, conflict, or contest.
Harvard meets Yale next week in football.
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to oppose.
to meet charges with countercharges.
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to cope or deal effectively with (an objection, difficulty, etc.).
-
to comply with; fulfill; answer.
to meet a deadline;
to meet a demand.
-
to pay in full.
How will you meet expenses?
-
to come into conformity with (wishes, expectations, views, etc.).
-
to encounter in experience.
to meet hostility.
verb (used without object)
-
meets,
present (3rd person singular)
-
met,
past participle, past
-
meeting
present participle
-
to come together, face to face, or into company.
We met on the street.
-
to assemble for action, conference, or other common purpose, as a committee, legislature, or class.
The board of directors will meet on Tuesday.
- Synonyms:
- collect
-
to become personally acquainted.
-
to come into contact or form a junction, as lines, planes, or areas.
The two lines meet to form an angle.
- Antonyms:
- diverge
-
to be conjoined or united.
-
to concur or agree.
-
to come together in opposition or conflict, as adversaries or hostile forces.
noun
-
meets
plural
-
an assembly, as of persons and hounds for a hunt or swimmers or runners for a race or series of races.
a track meet.
- Synonyms:
- competition, contest
-
those assembled.
-
the place of such an assembling.
-
Mathematics. intersection.
verb phrase
idioms
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meet halfway,
-
to concede in part, as to the demands of an opposing faction; make concessions, as to another person; compromise.
Despite their differences, the union and the company finally agreed to meet halfway and settle their dispute.
-
to anticipate another's actions and conduct oneself accordingly.
-
-
well met, welcome.
-
meet cute, cute.
adjective
verb
-
to come together (with), either by design or by accident; encounter
I met him unexpectedly
we met at the station
-
to come into or be in conjunction or contact with (something or each other)
the roads meet in the town
the sea meets the sky
-
(tr) to come to or be at the place of arrival of
to meet a train
-
to make the acquaintance of or be introduced to (someone or each other)
have you two met?
-
to gather in the company of (someone or each other)
the board of directors meets on Tuesday
-
to come into the presence of (someone or each other) as opponents
Joe meets Fred in the boxing match
-
(tr) to cope with effectively; satisfy
to meet someone's demands
-
(tr) to be apparent to (esp in the phrase meet the eye )
-
(tr) to return or counter
to meet a blow with another
-
to agree with (someone or each other)
we met him on the price he suggested
-
to experience; suffer
he met his death in a road accident
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to occur together
courage and kindliness met in him
-
(tr) to find (a person, situation, etc) in a specified condition
I met the door open
-
(of a celebrity, politician, etc) to have a session of being introduced to and questioned by members of the public or journalists
noun
-
the assembly of hounds, huntsmen, etc, prior to a hunt
-
a meeting, esp a sports meeting
-
the place where the paths of two railway trains meet or cross
-
a session where a celebrity, etc, is introduced to or questioned by members of the public or journalists
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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meetsimple
-
meetssimple
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have metperfect
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has metperfect
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am meetingprogressive
-
are meetingprogressive
-
is meetingprogressive
-
have been meetingperfect progressive
-
has been meetingperfect progressive
Past
-
metsimple
-
had metperfect
-
was meetingprogressive
-
were meetingprogressive
-
had been meetingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of meet1
First recorded before 900; Middle English mete(n), miete(n), Old English (ge)mētan; cognate with Old Norse mœta, Old Saxon mōtian; see moot
Origin of meet2
First recorded before 1000; Middle English mete, meete, mette, from Old English gemǣte “suitable,” cognate with German gemäss “suitable, appropriate”
Explanation
Meet means to interact in some way. You can meet someone at a party, you can meet another team in a game. There are many ways to meet. You can meet with tragedy, which means to have something awful happen to you. You can meet the needs of others, which means you give them what they need. You can meet expectations on the state exam, which means you do as well as you need to pass. You can meet your friends at the mall. When you see the word meet, there’s usually a connection being made.
Vocabulary lists containing meet
"Of Plymouth Plantation," Vocabulary from the historical account
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"The Tragedy of Macbeth," Vocabulary from Act 5
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"The Tragedy of Hamlet," Vocabulary from Act 3
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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.
See Examples For:
"Current monitoring shows that local air quality continues to meet or exceed EPA standards," the company said, referring to the Environmental Protection Agency's rules.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
He tells clients in a note that ResMed will likely raise prices after its fiscal first quarter, to meet its guidance for incremental gross margin expansion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
The two sides meet at Hill Dickinson Stadium on Saturday, 22 August, on the opening weekend of the Premier League campaign.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
“Microsoft is not building too fast, but rather taking a surprisingly measured approach given the demand signals they are receiving and their ability to easily pivot facilities to meet demand,” Moerdler added.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 10, 2026
“I meant for Aunt Tess to meet me, and we can both pretend that’s what happened.”
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
Solar now meets about 10% of the nation’s power needs, up from 3% at the beginning of last year, the government said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
Diane Swonk, chief economist at KPMG, said persistent inflation and a potentially weak labor market could put the Fed in a tough spot when it meets to set rates next month.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
Measure B funds, he said, should be “distributed in a way that best meets the needs of the community” instead of going to “hospitals who don’t really need it.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
Rose, 24, is part of swimming group Cow Tower Dippers which meets at the river most weekends.
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026
Then, in 1852, he meets a stranger in Hanover who has big plans to set up a stagecoach line in South America between Valparaiso and Santiago, Chile.
From "Phineas Gage" by John Fleischman
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge denied a request for a Los Angeles influencer charged with stealing luxury items from wealthy older men she met on dating apps to be diverted into mental health treatment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2026
U.S. intelligence agencies say he is alive but severely injured, and top Iranian cabinet members say they have never met him since he took office.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
The ex-Chelsea boss says he met Guardiola in Barcelona a day before he officially signed as his replacement, as it was "useful" to pick his brains - having been at the club for a decade.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
Pam Curran, who was Low's partner for 22 years, said everyone who met Brian liked him.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
But even as he leapt through the smoke, his grasp was met with nothing.
From "The Undead Fox of Deadwood Forest" by Aubrey Hartman
School performance ranged from no pupils leaving Year 6 able to swim 25m to others meeting the target at 100%.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
"We'll have to find new suggestions and new ideas" that both "Russia and Ukraine can agree to," Rubio said after that meeting.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
Anthropic is meeting with potential investors to shore up confidence ahead of a planned IPO that could launch in September or early October.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
South L.A. locals held a meeting July 30 called “Keep the Promise. Destination Crenshaw” at Bethesda Temple Church to discuss the impact of the project on their community and local businesses.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
It’s my and my twin brother’s first time meeting her, and Dad’s a little nervous.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
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.
