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Glite Dictionary
🔍 To come across 🤝 A chance meeting ⚡ A conflict ⚔️ To face in competition
to encounter

to encounter

8 3.6
To meet an opponent in a game or match
  • verb
  • /ɪnˈkaʊntər/
translation icon : enfrentarse a
  • When we first encountered the enemy, he fought very bravely until... - Until he deserted.
  • encounter a team
  • encounter stiff competition
  • encounter the enemy

The initial measures taken met with mixed success and a merchant captain's choices when encountering a German sub were either to run or to try and ram it.

Examples

  • The Enterprise encounters the Greek god Apollo, and of course, Kirk destroys him.

    Academic text (2000)

  • And later, when we first encountered the enemy... I knew I had found a comrade-in-arms.

    Francis of Assisi (1961)

  • Already they had encountered two of the enemy, one of whom had been killed.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • You are no different from the peasants our soldiers encounter in war.

    The Last Duel (2021)

  • I'm sure your men will spread the gospel wherever they encounter the enemy.

    Gods and Generals (2003)

  • Gun battles flared up where they encountered pockets of enemy troops.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • Basalisa's caravan encountered a Portuguese patrol and a skirmish broke out.

    Academic text (2000)

  • The team will encounter their toughest opponent in the championship game this weekend.

  • As the soldiers advanced, they encountered fierce resistance from the enemy forces.

  • During the match, the players encountered significant challenges that tested their skills.

Synonyms

to play
vsto encounter
∞ 1.0

Compete against another team or player in a sport

is more general, applying to competition and to actual fights
to meet
vsto encounter
527 2.2

To play against an opponent in a game or contest

is used for competition in sports, games, and larger conflicts
to battle
vsto encounter
372 2.7

To fight against someone or something for a long time

focuses on formal competition in sports or contests rather than fighting
to take on
vsto encounter
133 2.8

Compete against someone, for example in a sport or game

is neutral, describing a meeting to compete without challenge focus

Antonyms

to retreat
235 4.0

To move back from a place or plan to avoid danger

Compounds

encounter group
  • Specialized
1 8.3

A group meeting where people honestly talk about their feelings to understand themselves and each other

How Competitive

battle
805 3.3
challenge
∞ 3.1
to take on
133 2.8
to encounter
8 3.6
to face
∞ 2.2
to meet
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

encounter infinitive
encountered past
encountered past participle
encountering present participle
encounters third person singular

Morphology

encounter = counter (semi-transparent) = en + counter

For the sense 'meet and compete against an opponent', the relation to 'counter' ('to oppose') is more directly inferable, though the historical formation is not fully productive.

Etymology

Encounter comes from old parts en- 'in' and contre 'against', from the Latin contra. In sport the word keeps the idea of 'against': to encounter an opponent is to meet and play 'against' them.