befall
pronunciation
How to pronounce befall in British English:
UK [bɪˈfɔ:l]
How to pronounce befall in American English:
US [bɪˈfɔl]
-
- Verb:
- become of; happen to
- happen, occur, or be the case in the course of events or by chance
Word Origin
- befall (v.)
- Old English befeallan "to deprive of; fall to, be assigned to; befall," from be- "by, about" + feallan (see fall). Compare Old Frisian bifalla, Old Saxon, Old High German bifallan, German befallen. Related: Befell; befalling.
Example
- 1. Bad luck can befall anyone .
- 2. It did not want bear 's fate to befall others , notably lehman brothers .
- 3. In statistics alone , katrina was one of the worst disasters to befall the united states .
- 4. The example of japan shows that while catastrophes can befall any nation , they cause significantly less death and disruption in wealthy ones .
- 5. Only weeks ago , international observers and local politicians were outdoing each other with predictions of the horrors to befall south sudan around the time of its independence referendum .