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Happen Very Common

Happen has 7 different meanings across 1 category:

Verb

Definitions
Verb
1

come to pass

"What is happening?"

"The meeting took place off without an incidence"

"Nothing occurred that seemed important"

2

happen, occur, or be the case in the course of events or by chance

"It happens that today is my birthday"

"These things befell"

3

chance to be or do something, without intention or causation

"I happen to have just what you need!"

4

come into being; become reality

"Her dream really materialized"

5

come upon, as if by accident; meet with

"We find this idea in Plato"

"I happened upon the most wonderful bakery not very far from here"

"She chanced upon an interesting book in the bookstore the other day"

6

To occur or take place.

"The party will happen tomorrow evening at six o'clock."

In plain English: To happen means for something to occur or take place.

"Did you happen to see where I left my keys?"

Usage: Use "happen" to describe events that occur naturally or by chance without a specific plan. It functions primarily as an intransitive verb, so it should not be followed directly by an object like "a problem" unless used with "to.

Adverb
1

maybe, perhaps.

"I don't know if it will rain today, but I suppose something might happen to change our plans."

"Something good happened to us today."

Example Sentences
"Something good happened to us today." adv
"Did you happen to see where I left my keys?" verb
Related Terms
Antonyms
dematerialise dematerialize
Broader Terms (hypernyms)
happen chance
Narrower Terms (hyponyms)
break arise result intervene transpire give supervene proceed come fall anticipate develop recur go off come around happen befall concur backfire chance turn out synchronize appear

Origin

The word "happen" comes from Middle English and originally meant "to come to pass." It likely evolved from Old Norse roots related to things fitting together or occurring by chance.

Rhyming Words
pen open aspen ripen copen impen espen hapen papen unpen soapen atopen hogpen kaipen pippen rappen dampen holpen unopen shapen
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