Befall
[bɪ'fɔːl] or [bɪ'fɔl]
Definition
(verb.) become of; happen to; 'He promised that no harm would befall her'; 'What has become of my children?'.
Editor: Margie--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) To happen to.
(v. i.) To come to pass; to happen.
Checker: Susie
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. Betide, overtake, happen to.
v. n. Happen, occur, take place.
Edited by Alta
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Happen, occur, betide, fall, supervene, bechance
ANT:Miss, pass, spare, pretermit
Inputed by Franklin
Definition
v.t. to fall or happen to: to occur to.—v.i. to happen or come to pass: (Spens.) to fall in one's way:—pr.p. befall′ing; pa.t. befell′; pa.p. befall′en.
Edited by Cecilia
Examples
- Though war and danger were in store, war and danger might not befall for months to come. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- In full sight of whom, the malignant star of the Analytical has pre-ordained that pain and ridicule shall befall him. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- And therefore he will be least likely to lament, and will bear with the greatest equanimity any misfortune of this sort which may befall him. Plato. The Republic.
- Whatever might befall now, he must on to his journey's end. Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities.
- When he had completed his experiment all interest in it was lost, and the jars and wires would be left to any fate that might befall them. Frank Lewis Dyer. Edison, His Life and Inventions.
- He whose prisoner thou art scorns to take mean revenge for what is paSt. But beware of the future, lest a worse thing befall thee. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- Who can quit young lives after being long in company with them, and not desire to know what befell them in their after-years? George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- We believe--Mas'r Davy, me, and all of us--that you are as innocent of everything that has befell her, as the unborn child. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- Here an adventure befell me, in which (incredible as it may appear) you are personally interested. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- It is my wish, Mr. Ladislaw, to make amends for the deprivation which befell your mother. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- If the worst befell; if she learnt the truth, he would neither stand her reproaches, or the anguish of her altered looks. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- I come now to the relation of a misfortune, which about this time befell Mrs. John Dashwood. Jane Austen. Sense and Sensibility.
- I have no doubt, Mr Twemlow, that you have heard of a reverse of fortune having befallen us. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- In consequence of the disasters that had befallen us in the past few days, Lee could be reinforced largely, and I had no doubt he would be. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- Wright, Nottingham bankers, but these bankers, figuring on the experience that had befallen the inventors of other spinning machines, soon withdrew their aid. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- That gallant officer at once knew what had befallen him. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- This release had befallen her some two years before; for anything I knew, she was married again. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- Pray compose yourself, sir, said Holmes, and let me have a clear account of who you are and what it is that has befallen you. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- In that way Lydgate put the question--not quite in the way required by the awaiting answer; but such missing of the right word befalls many seekers. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- I would I had not trusted Malkin to his keeping, for, crippled as I am with the cold rheum, I am undone if aught but good befalls her. Walter Scott. Ivanhoe.
- Put thy trust in him and, no matter what befalls thee here, he will make all right hereafter. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- When the mental is regarded as a self-contained separate realm, a counterpart fate befalls bodily activity and movements. John Dewey. Democracy and Education.
- I was not born for a different destiny to the rest of my species: to imagine such a lot befalling me is a fairy tale--a day-dream. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
Checked by Harlan