 3 definitions found
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
happen
verb
1: come to pass; "What is happening?"; "The meeting took place
off without an incidence"; "Nothing occurred that seemed
important" [syn: {hap}, {go on}, {pass off}, {occur}, {pass},
{fall out}, {come about}, {take place}]
2: happen, occur, or be the case in the course of events or by
chance; "It happens that today is my birthday"; "These
things befell" (Santayana) [syn: {befall}, {bechance}]
3: chance to be or do something, without intention or
causation; "I happen to have just what you need!"
4: come into being; become reality; "Her dream really
materialized" [syn: {materialize}, {materialise}] [ant: {dematerialize},
{dematerialize}]
5: come upon, as if by accident; meet with; "We find this idea
in Plato"; "I happened upon the most wonderful bakery not
very far from here"; "She chanced upon an interesting book
in the bookstore the other day" [syn: {find}, {chance}, {bump},
{encounter}]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Happen \Hap"pen\ (h[a^]p"p'n), verb (used without an object) [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.
There shall no evil happen to the just. --Prov. xii.
21.
2. To take place; to occur.
All these things which had happened. --Luke xxiv.
14.
{To happen on}, to meet with; to fall or light upon. ''I have
happened on some other accounts.'' --Graunt.
{To happen in}, to make a casual call. [Colloq.]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
54 Moby Thesaurus words for "happen":
be found, be met with, be realized, bechance, become of, befall,
betide, break, bump, chance, come, come about, come along,
come down, come off, come to pass, come true, come upon, cook,
develop, do, encounter, eventuate, fall, fall out, find, give, go,
go off, go on, hap, happen along, happen by chance, hazard, hit,
light, luck, materialize, meet, meet with, occur, pass, pass off,
pop up, prove, rise, stumble, stumble on, stumble upon, take place,
transpire, tumble, turn out, turn up
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