encounter

Plural: encounters

Noun

• a minor short-term fight
• a casual or unexpected convergence
  • "there was a brief encounter in the hallway"
• a casual meeting with a person or thing
• a hostile disagreement face-to-face
• A meeting, especially one that is unplanned or unexpected.
• A hostile, often violent meeting; a confrontation, skirmish, or clash, as between combatants.
• A match between two opposing sides.
• A sexual encounter; sexual activity, especially unplanned or unexpected, between two people who have not already established a sexual relationship with each other. In many cases, it does not lead to a relationship, and thus is utterly transient. A sexual encounter can be consensual or non-consensual; in the latter case, it is known as sexual assault. A consensual sexual encounter that happens only once is commonly known as a one-night stand.
• The period of a space mission during which it carries out its data-gathering objectives.
• An extrajudicial killing or execution.

Verb

• come together
• come upon, as if by accident; meet with
• be beset by
• experience as a reaction
• contend against an opponent in a sport, game, or battle
• To meet (someone) or find (something), especially unexpectedly.
• To confront (someone or something) face to face.
• To meet one another.
• To engage in conflict, as with an enemy.
• To kill or execute someone extrajudicially.

Examples

• Their encounter was a matter of chance.
• Three armies encountered at Waterloo.

Synonyms

brush, bump, chance, clash, come across, coming upon, confrontation, face-off, find, happen, meet, meeting, play, receive, run across, run into, see, showdown, skirmish, take on, cross paths