befall
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 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
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
I was not nearly so skilled with a canoe as these men, but I must say that whatever might befall me on the endless waters did not trouble me.
From "Island of the Blue Dolphins" by Scott O'Dell
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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
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
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
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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
The incident that eventually befell Price took place in July 2015.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 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
It was not until spring that those at Point Comfort found out about the horror that befell James Town that winter.
From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone
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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
A spate of fires and disasters has befallen the city's historic architecture over the years, raising questions about whether these are freak accidents or a symptom of wider issues.
From BBC ● Mar. 13, 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
That's the fate that has befallen SchwuZ, whose director Katja Jaeger says is "the oldest and biggest queer club in Germany", if not Europe.
From Barron's ● Oct. 16, 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
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She imagined something terrible befalling her, and her parents discovering her mounting credit-card bills.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 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
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
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Vocabulary lists containing befall
Essential Academic Vocabulary for High School Students, List 1
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A Midsummer Night's Dream
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