befall

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be·fall

 (bĭ-fôl′)
v. be·fell (-fĕl′), be·fall·en (-fô′lən), be·fall·ing, be·falls
v.intr.
To come to pass; happen: What is the worst that may befall?
v.tr.
1. Used with the impersonal subject it and a following clause to indicate the occurrence of a usually unexpected or chance event: "It befell that, an hour before the appointed time, she was sent for by a neighbor who had been taken ill" (Henry James).
2. To happen to: What befell the ship? See Synonyms at happen.
[Middle English bifallen, from Old English befeallan, to fall.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

befall

(bɪˈfɔːl)
vb, -falls, -falling, -fell or -fallen
1. (intr) to take place; come to pass
2. (tr) to happen to
3. (usually foll by: to) to be due, as by right
[Old English befeallan; related to Old High German bifallan, Dutch bevallen; see be-, fall]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

be•fall

(bɪˈfɔl)

v. -fell, -fall•en, -fall•ing. v.t.
1. to happen to, esp. by chance.
v.i.
2. to happen or occur.
[before 900; Middle English; Old English befeallan]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

befall


Past participle: befallen
Gerund: befalling

Imperative
befall
befall
Present
I befall
you befall
he/she/it befalls
we befall
you befall
they befall
Preterite
I befell
you befell
he/she/it befell
we befell
you befell
they befell
Present Continuous
I am befalling
you are befalling
he/she/it is befalling
we are befalling
you are befalling
they are befalling
Present Perfect
I have befallen
you have befallen
he/she/it has befallen
we have befallen
you have befallen
they have befallen
Past Continuous
I was befalling
you were befalling
he/she/it was befalling
we were befalling
you were befalling
they were befalling
Past Perfect
I had befallen
you had befallen
he/she/it had befallen
we had befallen
you had befallen
they had befallen
Future
I will befall
you will befall
he/she/it will befall
we will befall
you will befall
they will befall
Future Perfect
I will have befallen
you will have befallen
he/she/it will have befallen
we will have befallen
you will have befallen
they will have befallen
Future Continuous
I will be befalling
you will be befalling
he/she/it will be befalling
we will be befalling
you will be befalling
they will be befalling
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been befalling
you have been befalling
he/she/it has been befalling
we have been befalling
you have been befalling
they have been befalling
Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been befalling
you will have been befalling
he/she/it will have been befalling
we will have been befalling
you will have been befalling
they will have been befalling
Past Perfect Continuous
I had been befalling
you had been befalling
he/she/it had been befalling
we had been befalling
you had been befalling
they had been befalling
Conditional
I would befall
you would befall
he/she/it would befall
we would befall
you would befall
they would befall
Past Conditional
I would have befallen
you would have befallen
he/she/it would have befallen
we would have befallen
you would have befallen
they would have befallen
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Verb1.befall - become of; happen to; "He promised that no harm would befall her"; "What has become of my children?"
bechance, betide
hap, happen, occur, come about, take place, go on, pass off, fall out, pass - come to pass; "What is happening?"; "The meeting took place off without an incidence"; "Nothing occurred that seemed important"
2.befall - happen, occur, or be the case in the course of events or by chance; "It happens that today is my birthday"; "These things befell" (Santayana)
bechance, happen
hap, happen, occur, come about, take place, go on, pass off, fall out, pass - come to pass; "What is happening?"; "The meeting took place off without an incidence"; "Nothing occurred that seemed important"
happen - chance to be or do something, without intention or causation; "I happen to have just what you need!"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

befall

verb (Archaic or literary) happen to, fall upon, occur in, take place in, ensue in, transpire in (informal), materialize in, come to pass in the disaster that befell the island of Flores
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

befall

verb
1. To take place:
betide, come, come about, come off, develop, hap, happen, occur, pass, transpire.
Idiom: come to pass.
2. To happen to one:
betide, come.
3. To take place by chance:
chance, hap, happen.
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
يَحْدُث لِ، يَقَعُ لِ
postihnoutpřihodit se
hænderamme
koma fyrir, henda
ištikti
atgadītiesnotikt
başına gelmek

befall

[bɪˈfɔːl] (befell (pt) (befallen (pp))) (liter)
A. VT → acontecer a, suceder a
B. VI → acontecer, suceder
whatever may befall → pase lo que pase
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

befall

[bɪˈfɔːl] [befell] (pt) [befallen] (pp)
vi (= happen) → advenir
vt (= happen to) → advenir à
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

befall

pret <befell> ptp <befallen> (old, liter)
vi → sich zutragen
vt → widerfahren (+dat) (geh)
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

befall

[bɪˈfɔːl] (befell (pt)) [bɪˈfɛl] (befallen (pp)) [bɪˈfɔːlən] vt → accadere a
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

befall

(biˈfoːl) – past tense befell (biˈfel) : past participle beˈfallen – verb
to happen to (a person or thing). A disaster has befallen her.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.
Mentioned in ?
References in classic literature ?
If my memory serves me the disasters which overtook the Majority of this honourable body always befell when it was the Minority's deal.
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While I was still hard at work sharpening my faculties and disciplining my energies in this way, an accident befell the doctor, on the possibility of which I had not dared to calculate, even in my most hopeful moments.
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Then he strolled to the platform where they were at cudgel play, for he loved a bout at quarterstaff as he loved meat and drink; and here befell an adventure that was sung in ballads throughout the mid-country for many a day.
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The Coldwater was fully equipped for two months' patrolling--the ordinary length of assignment to this service--and a month had already passed, its monotony entirely unrelieved by sight of another craft, when the first of our misfortunes befell.
My only regret is that, in view of what befell us, it had been necessary to bring the three brave fellows who manned the boat.
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It was but some few days after encountering the Frenchman, that a most significant event befell the most insignificant of the Pequod's crew; an event most lamentable; and which ended in providing the sometimes madly merry and predestinated craft with a living and ever accompanying prophecy of whatever shattered sequel might prove her own.
The thing is common in that fishery; and in the sequel of the narrative, it will then be seen what like abandonment befell myself.
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Now it befell that at this time there was a right good king in Denmark.
And of all that afterward befell Havelok and Goldboru, of how they went to Denmark and overcame the traitor there, and received the kingdom; and of how they returned again to England, and of how Godrich was punished, you must read for yourselves in the book of Havelok the Dane.
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For this reason it is, that I may be brief, I have only spoken of a few of those events which befell in the reign of Chaka; for my tale is not of the reign of Chaka, but of the lives of a handful of people who lived in those days, and of whom I and Umslopogaas alone are left alive--if, indeed, Umslopogaas, the son of Chaka, is still living on the earth.
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But nothing such befell. The two kings approached one another, as was their custom, with much sniffing and bristling.
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evil befell him," and here her wicked eyes glinted.
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