happen

happen
[[t]hæ̱pən[/t]]
♦
happens, happening, happened
1) VERB Something that happens occurs or is done without being planned.

We cannot say for sure what will happen...

The accident happened close to Martha's Vineyard.

2) VERB If something happens, it occurs as a result of a situation or course of action.

She wondered what would happen if her parents found her...

He trotted to the truck and switched on the ignition. Nothing happened.

3) VERB When something, especially something unpleasant, happens to you, it takes place and affects you.

[V to n] If we had been spotted at that point, I don't know what would have happened to us...

[V to n] It's the best thing that ever happened to me.

4) VERB If you happen to do something, you do it by chance. If it happens that something is the case, it occurs by chance.

[V to-inf] We happened to discover we had a friend in common...

[V to-inf] I looked in the nearest paper, which happened to be the Daily Mail...

[it V that] If it happens that I'm wanted badly somewhere, my mother will take the call and phone through to me here.

5) PHRASE: V inflects, PHR with cl You use as it happens in order to introduce a statement, especially one that is rather surprising.

She called Amy to see if she had any idea of her son's whereabouts. As it happened, Amy had.


English dictionary. 2008.

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Synonyms:
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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Happen — Happen …   Deutsch Wörterbuch

  • happen — vb Happen, chance, occur, befall, betide, transpire are comparable when they mean to come to pass or to come about. Happen is the ordinary and general term and may imply either obvious causation or seeming accident, either design or an absence of …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • happen — UK US /ˈhæpən/ verb [I] ► to exist or begin to exist because of an action, situation, or event: » The one course of events no one anticipated was the one that happened: a long period of stagnation that threatened the assumptions of the European… …   Financial and business terms

  • happen — [hap′ən] vi. [ME happenen: see HAP1 & EN] 1. to take place; occur; befall 2. to be or occur by chance or without plan [it happened to rain] 3. to have the luck or occasion; chance [I happened to see it] …   English World dictionary

  • Happen — Hap pen (h[a^]p p n), v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Happened} ( p nd); p. pr. & vb. n. {Happening}.] [OE. happenen, hapnen. See {Hap} to happen.] 1. To come by chance; to come without previous expectation; to fall out. [1913 Webster] There shall no evil… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • happen — ► VERB 1) take place; occur. 2) come about by chance. 3) (happen on) come across by chance. 4) chance to do something or come about. 5) (happen to) be experienced by. 6) ( …   English terms dictionary

  • happen by — ˈhappen a ˌlong ˈhappen ˌby [intransitive] [present tense I/you/we/they happen along he/she/it happens along …   Useful english dictionary

  • happen on — ˈhappen ˌon ˈhappen u ˌpon [transitive] [present tense I/you/we/they happen on he/she/it happens on present participle happ …   Useful english dictionary

  • happen to sb — happen to sb/sth ► to affect someone or something in a way that changes something: »Everywhere I go people are becoming more and more depressed by what is happening to their savings. Main Entry: ↑happen …   Financial and business terms

  • Happen — Sm std. (18. Jh.) Stammwort. Aus dem Niederdeutschen; ursprünglich eine Lautgebärde wie auch die Interjektion happ(s), also das Erschnappte . Etwas früher bezeugt ist nndl. happen schnappen ; es könnte aber viel älter sein und die Grundlage von… …   Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen sprache

  • happen — index arise (occur), supervene Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

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