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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

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

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

In the wake of 9/11, when many feared and no one knew what might befall us, he helped harden the country and prevent attacks.

From The Wall Street Journal Nov. 4, 2025

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

Granted, I wouldn’t say that nobody cares about what Jackson did or Rowling is committed to doing, whether that harm befalls a few people or impacts entire populations.

From Salon May 14, 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

Playing Beth’s mother, Grace, she volunteers to direct their small town’s famed Christmas pageant after an incident befalls the longtime director.

From Los Angeles Times Nov. 8, 2024

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

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

Mother warned of illnesses that befell children who did not eat their lentils and of ghosts that stalked them in their sleep.

From "Tasting the Sky" by Ibtisam Barakat

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

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

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

From Salon May 1, 2026

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

No mishap had befallen him or his cargo.

From "A Single Shard" by Linda Sue Park

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

The statement is hollow so long as people still can stake their dollars on the calamities befalling everyday Angelenos.

From Los Angeles Times Jan. 10, 2025

“Do not speak of ill befalling you,” Taran cried.

From "The Black Cauldron" by Lloyd Alexander




Vocabulary lists containing befall


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