Thesaurus.com
Dictionary.com
Showing results for befall. Search instead for baumfall.
Definitions

befall

[bih-fawl] / bɪˈfɔl /


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

"We wake up wondering what new disaster is going to befall Auroville," its French-language magazine declared in December.

From Barron's Jun. 25, 2026

A different sort of disaster may befall Mr. Starmer and Labour in London.

From The Wall Street Journal Apr. 16, 2026

How has she dealt with the fallow periods that befall every actor?

From Los Angeles Times Dec. 3, 2025

With head-scratching lyrics like, “Why should a land have so much meaning when dark times befall it? It’s just a land made of dirt and rock,” they confuse far more than they entertain.

From Salon Nov. 21, 2025

“Shall you ever have courage to announce to Lady Catherine what is to befall her?”

From "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen

Carthage’s deeper tragedy lies in the subsequent erasure of its history, language and culture, not in its physical destruction, which befalls all empires.

From The Wall Street Journal Feb. 11, 2026

A magnetic field around any of these structures would form a continuous tangent vector field, and at this point we know what befalls such hairy constructions.

From Scientific American Aug. 18, 2023

After tragedy befalls his friend and his ex-wife, Bob can’t help but feel it was deserved.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 3, 2023

But then we eventually see that his friends of 25 years never got to know him either, which makes everything that befalls him land with bitterness as opposed to melancholy.

From Salon Jun. 14, 2023

"Take my betrothed back to the castle, and see that no harm befalls her," the prince told him brusquely.

From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin

No other harm befell him or my little brother.

From Salon Jul. 3, 2026

Better to know beforehand what I will pay and what I will get and avoid the disaster that befell my friends.

From The Wall Street Journal Feb. 25, 2026

This vast array of media professionals came no closer to uncovering what awful fate befell this poor 84-year-old woman.

From Slate Feb. 23, 2026

She will be desperate to avoid the disaster that befell hot men's favourite Ilia Malinin, who suffered a nightmare last week, slumping to an eighth-place finish.

From Barron's Feb. 17, 2026

And on the third night after another and a stranger thing befell me.

From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien

In baseball, curses are no joking matter, and the Curse of the FTD Burger might now have befallen the team.

From Los Angeles Times Jun. 26, 2026

“This is a devastating tragedy that has befallen the Reiner family,” he said.

From The Wall Street Journal Dec. 17, 2025

"This is a devastating tragedy that has befallen the Reiner family," he said.

From Barron's Dec. 17, 2025

The disaster that has befallen Blatten is the worst nightmare for communities across the Alps.

From BBC May 28, 2025

Ought she lie, and say some horrible fate had befallen her speech, thus rendering it unspeakable?

From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood

She imagined something terrible befalling her, and her parents discovering her mounting credit-card bills.

From The Wall Street Journal May 29, 2026

If we speak about 1929 perhaps we believe we will avoid a similar fate befalling us.

From MarketWatch Oct. 20, 2025

The precedents I have in mind rose and fell on elements of “human nature” that also drive what’s befalling us now.

From Salon Feb. 17, 2025

That defeat would have paled when set beside the one that looked like befalling Scotland now.

From BBC Feb. 3, 2024

“Do not speak of ill befalling you,” Taran cried.

From "The Black Cauldron" by Lloyd Alexander




Vocabulary lists containing befall


Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training