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

From BBC Jul. 2, 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

"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

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

Should any ill befall Joffrey, the Lannister claim to the Iron Throne would rest on Tommen's young shoulders.

From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin

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

There are allusions to the tragedies that befell him: the loss of a young daughter to measles encephalitis and his son’s near-fatal accident.

From The Wall Street Journal Mar. 24, 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

Hear and attend and listen; for this befell and behappened and became and was, O my Best Beloved, when the Tame animals were wild, she wrote.

From "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke

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

“Such a sad time for you,” he said with false sympathy, “but it seems that good fortune has befallen you in other ways.”

From "Rump: The (Fairly) True Story of Rumpelstilskin" by Liesl Shurtliff

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

From The Wall Street Journal Jun. 25, 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

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

From BBC Feb. 3, 2024

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

From "The Black Cauldron" by Lloyd Alexander




Vocabulary lists containing befall


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