Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Encounter

En·coun′ter (ĕn·koun′tẽr), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Encountered; p. pr. & vb. n. Encountering.] [OF. encontrer; pref. en- (L. in) + contre against, L. contra. See Counter, adv.] To come against face to face; to meet; to confront, either by chance, suddenly, or deliberately; especially, to meet in opposition or with hostile intent; to engage in conflict with; to oppose; to struggle with; as, to encounter a friend in traveling; two armies encounter each other; to encounter obstacles or difficulties, to encounter strong evidence of a truth.

Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoics, encountered him. Acts xvii. 18.

I am most fortunate thus accidentally to encounter you. Shak.

En·coun′ter, v. i. To meet face to face; to have a meeting; to meet, esp. as enemies; to engage in combat; to fight; as, three armies encountered at Waterloo.

I will encounter with Andronicus. Shak.

Perception and judgment, employed in the investigation of all truth, have in the first place to encounter with particulars. Tatham.

En·coun′ter, n. [OF. encontre, fr. encontrer. See Encounter, v. t.] 1. A meeting face to face; a running against; a sudden or incidental meeting; an interview.

To shun the encounter of the vulgar crowd. Pope.

2. A meeting, with hostile purpose; hence, a combat; a battle; as, a bloody encounter.

As one for . . . fierce encounters fit . Spenser.

To join their dark encounter in mid-air . Milton.

Syn. — Contest; conflict; fight; combat; assault; rencounter; attack; engagement; onset. See Contest.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.