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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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The biggest pre-World Cup worry for England was how they would cope should any misfortune befall captain Kane.

From BBC Jul. 2, 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

That fate can befall even major acts, particularly those from Latin America.

From Los Angeles Times Apr. 19, 2026

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

From The Wall Street Journal Apr. 16, 2026

"And Tommen is heir, should anything ill befall His Grace. Tommen, whose nature is so sweet, and notably . . . tractable."

From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin

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

The Jeffrey Epstein case itself is no longer “real,” but a plot device to keep viewers tuning in to see what befalls the protagonist, in the manner of someone being voted off the island.

From Salon Aug. 24, 2025

The witches are thus active instruments in the fate that befalls Macbeth, making him somewhat more of a puppet of their otherworldly mischief than a closer reading of the text might bear out.

From Los Angeles Times Feb. 19, 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

"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

As we near the end we get to a full account of the game itself, enlivened by quotes the players gave after the fact, and followed by chronicles of what befell the participants after 1933.

From The Wall Street Journal May 22, 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

The issue also befell the German team who won bronze in the biathlon.

From BBC Feb. 9, 2026

And it befell that when Zacharias should do the office of the priesthood in the order of his course before God,

From New Word-Analysis by William Swinton

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. We all recognize that and our hearts go out to the entire 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

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

Her father was about to have a heart attack, and my memories of her now are tinged with a blue wash of misfortune that hadn’t quite befallen her at the time.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

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

From The Wall Street Journal Jun. 25, 2026

As he did in other speeches, Leo did not shy away from discussing the ills befalling Lebanon.

From Los Angeles Times Dec. 2, 2025

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

It's possible she actually prevented another tragedy from befalling our family.

From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi




Vocabulary lists containing befall


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