Library / English Dictionary

HAPPEN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Come to pass

Example:

Nothing occurred that seemed important

Synonyms:

come about; fall out; go on; hap; happen; occur; pass; pass off; take place

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "happen"):

contemporise; contemporize; synchronise; synchronize (happen at the same time)

turn out (prove to be in the result or end)

fall; shine; strike (touch or seem as if touching visually or audibly)

break (happen or take place)

chance (be the case by chance)

backfire; backlash; recoil (come back to the originator of an action with an undesired effect)

coincide; concur (happen simultaneously)

bechance; befall; betide (become of; happen to)

bechance; befall; happen (happen, occur, or be the case in the course of events or by chance)

happen; materialise; materialize (come into being; become reality)

come around; roll around (happen regularly)

come off; go off; go over (happen in a particular manner)

recur; repeat (happen or occur again)

develop (be gradually disclosed or unfolded; become manifest)

anticipate (be a forerunner of or occur earlier than)

fall (occur at a specified time or place)

come (come to pass; arrive, as in due course)

go; proceed (follow a certain course)

supervene (take place as an additional or unexpected development)

give (occur)

transpire (come about, happen, or occur)

intervene (occur between other event or between certain points of time)

result (come about or follow as a consequence)

arise; come up (result or issue)

break; develop; recrudesce (happen)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP
It ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

happening (an event that happens)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Come into being; become reality

Example:

Her dream really materialized

Synonyms:

happen; materialise; materialize

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "happen" is one way to...):

come about; fall out; go on; hap; happen; occur; pass; pass off; take place (come to pass)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "happen"):

appear; come out (be issued or published)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 3

Meaning:

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

Example:

These things befell

Synonyms:

bechance; befall; happen

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "happen" is one way to...):

come about; fall out; go on; hap; happen; occur; pass; pass off; take place (come to pass)

Verb group:

happen (chance to be or do something, without intention or causation)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 4

Meaning:

Come upon, as if by accident; meet with

Example:

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

Synonyms:

bump; chance; encounter; find; happen

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 5

Meaning:

Chance to be or do something, without intention or causation

Example:

I happen to have just what you need!

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "happen" is one way to...):

chance (be the case by chance)

Verb group:

bechance; befall; happen (happen, occur, or be the case in the course of events or by chance)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE
It ----s that CLAUSE

Credits

 Context examples: 

What would have happened next I cannot say, if Aunt March had not come hobbling in at this interesting minute.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

What was to happen I knew no more than did I know what had happened.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

This happens when cells that have the ability to form sperm or eggs are found in other parts of the body.

(Nonseminoma, NCI Dictionary)

I'm not asking about mere suspiciousness; I am interested if the patient is convinced that these things are happening to him/her.

(NPI - Have Beliefs That You Know are Not True, NCI Thesaurus)

A response indicating that something happens or happened none of the time.

(None of the Time, NCI Thesaurus)

You can get neurofibromatosis from your parents, or it can happen because of a mutation (change) in your genes.

(Neurofibromatosis, NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)

It happens because of a problem in communication between your nerves and muscles.

(Myasthenia Gravis, NIH: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)

They happen in the first month of pregnancy, often before a woman even knows that she is pregnant.

(Neural Tube Defects, NIH: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development)

A measurement of the total number of instances in which there has been a termination of pregnancy happening before the fetus is able to sustain independent life.

(Number of Abortions, NCI Thesaurus)

It does not have to happen all at once.

(Obesity in Children, NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)