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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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It is the latest in a litany of disasters to befall one of the most benighted industrial cities in Europe, repeatedly blanketed in lethal smoke from similar blazes.

From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026

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

But woe befall any bad guys who mistake him for a fool.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026

It is also another sign of what is surely England and Tuchel's biggest fear – how can they cope should misfortune befall all-time record goalscorer Kane?

From BBC ● May 22, 2026

Of all the catastrophic fates that can befall you in the out-of-doors, perhaps none is more eerily unpredictable than hypothermia.

From "A Walk in the Woods" by Bill Bryson

The cynic in me knows that, as surely as no Gutenberg protégé engraved this stationery, the happy accident of the extras befalls every customer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026

When a tragedy befalls Elias-Clarke and a new CEO is tapped to take over, it’s not just Miranda who’s in trouble, but Runway and its publisher’s storied legacy, too.

From Salon ● May 6, 2026

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

When a crisis befalls a small circle of closed-minded leaders, they tend to react with strategic and often self-destructive recklessness.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 11, 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

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

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

From BBC ● Feb. 9, 2026

And weeping still they all cried out in greeting: ‘Prince, what joy this is, your safe return! Now Ithaka seems here, and we in Ithaka! But tell us now, what death befell our friends?’

From "The Odyssey" by Homer

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

From BBC ● May 20, 2026

The same fate could’ve easily befallen this movie, too.

From Salon ● May 1, 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

Pretty Boy was singing away in my room right now, so I was pretty sure he had lived through whatever misfortune had befallen him.

From "The Lions of Little Rock" by Kristin Levine

The comeback ended in a match tie-break defeat by Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk and her American partner Peyton Stearns, with the same fate befalling them in New York.

From BBC ● Sep. 5, 2026

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026

For someone who wept at seeing the modern Tatars enter Baghdad, the prospect of a similar fate befalling Tehran is more than a strategic policy shift.

From Salon ● Mar. 7, 2026

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

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 20, 2025

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

From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi


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