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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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"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

That worry is the massive drop-off in proven quality at international level should any misfortune befall England captain and record goalscorer Harry Kane.

From BBC Mar. 20, 2026

Sanctions didn’t make life easier, he says, but they didn’t befall Iran.

From The Wall Street Journal Mar. 6, 2026

My mother worries, but I tell her they will not let harm befall me.

From "Ella Enchanted" by Gail Carson Levine

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

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

After tragedy befalls his family, Mahito, the titular boy, leaves Tokyo and relocates to the country with his father to live with his aunt, Natsuko.

From Salon Dec. 23, 2023

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

No other harm befell him or my little brother.

From Salon Jul. 3, 2026

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

Because, for veterans of modern warfare, the question isn’t how to come to grips with something that befell us in the manner of a natural disaster.

From Slate Mar. 16, 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

Now whatever befell he was going to be there to witness it, with those mocking blue eyes and that maddening cool amusement.

From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare

Initially, police had treated it as a tragic accident that had befallen one of Spain's wealthiest individuals.

From BBC May 20, 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

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

Skardebek didn’t understand the disaster that had befallen them.

From "The Assassination of Brangwain Spurge" by M.T. Anderson and Eugene Yelchin

White House reporters, meanwhile, are preparing for the day — perhaps a day when they serve as pool reporter — when they get the call about a calamity befalling the president.

From Salon Jun. 26, 2026

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

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

From BBC Feb. 3, 2024

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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