befall

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

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

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026

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

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 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

The Riders of Rohan sat uneasily upon their horses, on either side of the stair, and looked up darkly at the great tower, fearing what might befall their lord.

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

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

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

Now imagine a great tragedy befalls one province.

From Salon ● Jan. 16, 2025

"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

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

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

From BBC ● Feb. 9, 2026

Conversely, it also befell the stubborn, conservative Greenland Norse farmers, replaced by Eskimo hunter-gatherers whose subsistence methods and technology were far superior to those of the Norse under Greenland conditions.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond

Rodríguez, who could use the crisis to strengthen her hold on power, has highlighted the successes of the response while acknowledging the grave catastrophe that had befallen her country.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026

"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

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

From BBC ● May 28, 2025

No mishap had befallen him or his cargo.

From "A Single Shard" by Linda Sue Park

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

The idea of anything untoward befalling Kane is unthinkable because, for all Watkins' energy and what Ivan Toney may yet bring against Belgium, England's on-field leader is irreplaceable.

From BBC ● Mar. 23, 2024

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

From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi