1. (

• brush ,
• clash ,
• encounter ,
• skirmish

) a minor short-term fight ;

2. (

• meeting ,
• encounter

) a casual or unexpected convergence; "he still remembers their meeting in Paris"; "there was a brief encounter in the hallway" ;

3. (

• encounter ,
• coming_upon

) a casual meeting with a person or thing ;

4. (

• confrontation ,
• encounter ,
• showdown ,
• face-off

) a hostile disagreement face-to-face ;

1. (

• meet ,
• run_into ,
• encounter ,
• run_across ,
• come_across ,
• see

) come together; "I'll probably see you at the meeting"; "How nice to see you again!" ;

2. (

• find ,
• happen ,
• chance ,
• bump ,
• encounter

) 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" ;

3. (

• run_into ,
• encounter

) be beset by; "The project ran into numerous financial difficulties" ;

4. (

• meet ,
• encounter ,
• receive

) experience as a reaction; "My proposal met with much opposition" ;

5. (

• meet ,
• encounter ,
• play ,
• take_on ,

) contend against an opponent in a sport, game, or battle; "Princeton plays Yale this weekend"; "Charlie likes to play Mary" ;