- 1a meeting, especially one that is sudden, unexpected, or violent encounter (with somebody/something) Three of them were killed in the subsequent encounter with the police. encounter (between A and B) The story describes the extraordinary encounter between a man and a dolphin. a chance encounter I've had a number of close encounters (= situations that could have been dangerous) with bad drivers. Flaubert was her first encounter with French literature.
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- 2a sports competition against a particular player or team She has beaten her opponent in all of their previous encounters.
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