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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.

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Much is made about just how much Washington disliked sitting; he knew about Greek mythology and the fate that would befall any man who became absorbed in his own image.

From The Wall Street Journal Jun. 26, 2026

"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

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

It’s not the first calamity to befall the family in the West Bank.

From Los Angeles Times Oct. 30, 2025

Aye, how I tremble for him, lest some blow befall him at men’s hands or on the sea!

From "The Odyssey" by Homer

Money is a form of the “resource curse” that befalls many producers of oil and other vital commodities.

From The Wall Street Journal Oct. 21, 2025

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

Without clear succession planning, Xi also risks the fate that befell Stalin and Mao, whose deaths in office unleashed struggles for power that ended up unraveling their political visions.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 5, 2026

A similar fate befell What's Wrong With Me – a duet with her musical hero, The Cure's Robert Smith.

From BBC Jun. 10, 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

Some evil befell him surely, for he was an honorable servant.

From "The Door in the Wall" by Marguerite de Angeli

“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

In her essay, Schlossberg acknowledged that her terminal illness adds to a string of tragedies that has befallen the famous political family.

From Los Angeles Times Nov. 22, 2025

All the plans, in their own very different ways, hope to salvage something out of the calamity that has befallen Gaza over the past two years.

From BBC Sep. 21, 2025

And they greeted Gandalf and said: ‘We seek the Steward, and men say that he is in this House. Has any hurt befallen him? And the Lady Éowyn, where is she?’

From "The Return of the King" by J.R.R. Tolkien

It doesn’t help that a rainstorm of biblical proportions is befalling Chicago.

From The Wall Street Journal Jun. 25, 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

The statement is hollow so long as people still can stake their dollars on the calamities befalling everyday Angelenos.

From Los Angeles Times Jan. 10, 2025

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

From "The Black Cauldron" by Lloyd Alexander




Vocabulary lists containing befall


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