| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| encounter |
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| SYLLABICATION: | en·coun·ter |
| PRONUNCIATION: |   n-koun t r |
| NOUN: | 1. A meeting, especially one that is unplanned, unexpected, or brief: a chance encounter in the park. 2a. A hostile or adversarial confrontation; a contest: a tense naval encounter. b. An often violent meeting; a clash. | | VERB: | Inflected forms: en·coun·tered, en·coun·ter·ing, en·coun·ters
| | TRANSITIVE VERB: | 1. To meet, especially unexpectedly; come upon: encountered an old friend on the street. 2. To confront in battle or contention. 3. To come up against: encounter numerous obstacles. | | INTRANSITIVE VERB: | To meet, especially unexpectedly. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English encountre, from Old French, from encontrer, to meet, from Late Latin incontr re : Latin in-, in; see en–1 + Latin contr, against; see kom in Appendix I.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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