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Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary hap·pen ETYMOLOGY Middle English, from hap DATE 14th century 1. to occur by chance — often used with it it so happens I'm going your way 2. to come into being or occur as an event, process, or result mistakes will happen 3. to do, encounter, or attain something by or as if by chance I happen to know the answer 4. a. to meet or discover something by chance happened upon a system that worked — Richard Corbin b. to come or go casually : make a chance appearance he might happen by at any time 5. to come especially by way of injury or harm I promise nothing will happen to you English Etymology happen c.1300, happenen "to come to pass, occur," originally "occur by hap" (see hap); replaced O.E. gelimpan, gesceon, and M.E.befall. First record of happenstance is 1897, formed from happening + circumstance. Happening in the sense of "spontaneous event or display" is from 1959. Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary-牛津双解-OALD7 ☞ happen hap·pen / 5hApEn / verb1. [V] to take place, especially without being planned (尤指偶然)发生,出现: You'll never guess what's happened! 你根本猜不到出了什么事！ Accidents like this happen all the time. 此类事故经常发生。 Let's see what happens next week. 咱们等着瞧下一周会怎么样。 I'll be there whatever happens. 不管发生什么事我都会到那儿的。 I don't know how this happened. 我不知道这事怎么发生的。 2. [V] to take place as the result of sth (作为结果)出现,发生: She pressed the button but nothing happened. 她按下按钮,但什么反应也没有。 What happens if nobody comes to the party? 要是没有人来参加聚会,会怎么样呢？ Just plug it in and see what happens. 就把插头插上,看看会怎么样。 3. to do or be sth by chance 碰巧；恰好: ▪ [V to inf] She happened to be out when we called. 我们打电话时她刚巧不在家。 You don't happen to know his name, do you? 你不会碰巧知道他的名字吧？ ▪ [V that] It happened that she was out when we called. 我们打电话时她刚巧不在家。 4. [V to inf] used to tell sb sth, especially when you are disagreeing with them or annoyed by what they have said (向对方表示异议或不悦等): That happens to be my mother you're talking about! 你们谈论的是我母亲！ IDIOMS ▪ anything can / might 'happen used to say that it is not possible to know what the result of sth will be 什么事都可能发生；结果难以预料 ▪ as it happens / happened used when you say sth that is surprising, or sth connected with what sb else has just said 令人惊奇的是；恰恰: I agree with you, as it happens. 我恰恰和你意见一致。 As it happens, I have a spare set of keys in my office. 碰巧我在办公室有一套备用钥匙。 ▪ it (just) so happens that... by chance 碰巧；恰好: It just so happened they'd been invited too. 他们碰巧也获得邀请。 ▪ 7these things 'happen used to tell sb not to worry about sth they have done 这类事在所难免；别为做过的事担忧: 'Sorry—I've spilt some wine.' 'Never mind. These things happen.' "对不起,我弄洒了些酒。" "没关系。这种事在所难免。" ⇨ more at accident , event , shit n. ⇨ more at wait v. PHRASAL VERBS ▪ 'happen on sth (old-fashioned) to find sth by chance 偶然发现某物 ▪ 'happen to sb / sth to have an effect on sb / sth 遭到；遇到: I hope nothing (= nothing unpleasant) has happened to them. 我希望他们没出事。 It's the best thing that has ever happened to me. 这是我所遇到的最好的事。 What's happened to your car? 你的车出什么毛病了？ Do you know what happened to Gill Lovecy (= have you any news about her) ? 你有吉尔 · 洛夫西的消息吗？ Oxford Collocations Dictionary for Students of English happen verb ADV. actually, really She couldn't quite believe that all this was actually happening to her. | just I don't remember learning to swim, it just happened. | spontaneously Sometimes fun activities just happen spontaneously; at other times they take careful planning. | overnight Change doesn't happen overnight. VERB + HAPPEN be going to They could only wait and see what was going to happen. | be likely to | be bound to Mistakes are bound to happen sometimes. | tend to What tends to happen is that students spend the first week of the course in a blind panic, but settle down by the second or third week. | want sth to | make sth You have to make things happen if you want them to happen. | let sth Don't just sit back and let it happen. PREP. to She didn't know what was happening to her. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Thesaurus-11th Edition v. Function: verb 1 to take place or come about FF1C;the incident happened at midnightFF1E; Synonyms: befall, betide, break, chance, come, come off, develop, do, fall out, give, go, go down, hap, occur, pass, rise, transpire Related Words: go off, turn out Idioms: come to pass 2 to come by chance FF1C;he unexpectedly happened on a new methodFF1E; Synonyms: bump, chance, hit, light, luck, meet, stumble, tumble Related Words: befall Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged Search result show the entry is found in: happen-so hap·pen I. \ˈhapən, -pəm\ verb (happened \-pənd, -pənd\ ; happened \“\ ; happening \-p(ə)niŋ\ ; happens \-pənz, -pəmz\) Etymology: Middle English happenen, hapnen, from hap, happe, n., hap + -enen -en — more at hap intransitive verb 1. a. : to occur fortuitously, casually, or coincidentally : come about without previous design — often used with impersonal it < it happens the 500-mile auto race is in progress — Bruce Westley > < as it happens, I have the book right here > b. : to come into existence spontaneously or as if spontaneously without causal necessity, effort, or other process < no success in life merely happens — Katharine F. Gerould > < we were together and love happened — Galway Kinnell > 2. a. : to present itself as an event or process : become a reality :come into being : take place : occur < a study of what happens when we sleep > < accidents are continually happening > < cloudbursts do not happen … often — G.W.Murray > < hurried to the scene … where the shooting happened — Current Biography > b. (1) : to present itself as an experience or effect — used with to < creep is what happens to a hot metal when you pull it — R.P.Lister > < all sorts of pleasant things happened to him > (2) : to present itself by way of injury or harm — used with to < the tickbirds … make sure that nothing happens to their rhino — Jule Mannix > < I'd have something happen to me if I did — Rose Macaulay > 3. : to have the luck or fortune < he happens to be a very rich man > < forms of life which happen to be adjusted to their environment — W.R.Inge > < I happened to hear it > 4. : to chance to come : fall , light < while leafing through a journal … I happened across this passage — R.A.Hall b.1911 > < happened on a cottage almost hidden in elm tree boughs — Times Literary Supplement > < happened upon a remarkable and neglected volume — Charlton Laird > 5. : to come or go casually : make an appearance : turn up : drop in < he happened into the typists' room to borrow a stamp — Dorothy Sayers > < hoping that no wayfarer would happen along the lane — Joseph Conrad > < any person who might happen by was expected to … visit — American Guide Series: Texas > transitive verb dialect : to become of : occur to : befall < little I mind what happens me — Augusta Gregory > < what would happen my little business if I … married her — Frank O'Connor > Synonyms: chance , occur , transpire , befall , betide : happen is a general term without special connotation and signifies to take place either with or without plan, motivation, or apparent or assignable cause. chance , perhaps somewhat archaic or literary in suggestion, stresses lack of plan or causation < a novel that chanced to be local and concrete and true — Sinclair Lewis > < he chanced to sit banqueting with the mariners about the hour of tierce — G.G.Coulton > occur , often interchangeable with happen , has the additional meaning of be found, be met with, exist, may more strongly suggest an event which commands attention or consideration, and is more frequent than happen with negatives < a sluggish, smoke-colored animal, occurring in shallow swamp waters — L.P.Schultz > < a bismuth bearing vein occurs on Charley Creek — Encyc. Americana > < when once a certain detachment from possessive vice and objective ambition has occurred in the mind — J.C.Powys > < this is possible in theory, but, actually, never seemed to occur— V.G.Heiser > transpire means to leak out and become known; by semantic change it has come to mean simply occur , although it is likely to be used of events of some importance < all memorable events … transpire in morning time and in a morning atmosphere — H.D.Thoreau > < no clear-cut issue developed and no real contest transpired — E.E.Robinson > befall and betide , both rather literary, may suggest occurring because of destiny or fate and may be used especially with reference to unpleasant matters < a … piece of ill fortune, which about this time befell me — Charles Lamb > < the fate which Beria meted out to so many should now have befallen him — Malcolm Muggeridge > < woe betide a known traitor > II. adverb now dialect : maybe , perhaps < and happen they'll tell him so too — Angus Wilson > |
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