befall
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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
befall
- /bɪˈfɔːl/ UK
- /bɪˈfɔl/ US
- /biˈfɑl/ Atlantic Canada, US, cot caught merger
- [bɪˈfɑl] Atlantic Canada, US, cot caught merger
- /bɪˈfɒl/ Boston, Canada, Maine
- /bɪˈfoːl/ Australia, New Zealand
Rhymes with -ɔːl
Where it comes from
From Middle English bifallen, from Old English befeallan, from Proto-West Germanic *bifallan, from Proto-Germanic *bifallaną; equivalent to be- + fall.
verb befalls · befalling · befell · befallen
- To fall upon; fall all over; overtake. At dusk an unusual calm befalls the wetlands.
- To happen. It befell in the days of Uther Pendragon [...] that there was a mighty duke in Cornwall that held war against him long time.
- To happen to. Temptation befell me.
- To fall. With a thought I tooke for Maudline & a cruse of cockle pottage. with a thing thus tall, skie blesse you all: I befell into this dotage.
noun befalls
- Case; instance; circumstance; event; incident; accident. Or he had tolde al his befall.
