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n or with hostile intent; to engage in conflict with; to oppose; to struggle with; as, to encounter a friend in traveling; two armies encounter each other; to encounter obstacles or difficulties, to encounter strong evidence of a truth. Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoics, encountered him. Ac…

One who encounters; an opponent; an antagonist. Atterbury.

To meet unexpectedly; to encounter.

The encountering of risks; hazardous and striking enterprise; a bold undertaking, in which hazards are to be encountered, and the issue is staked upon unforeseen events; a daring feat. He loved excitement and adventure. Macaulay.

To front; to face in position; to meet or encounter face to face. [Obs.] All the sea-coasts do affront the Levant. Holland. That he, as 't were by accident, may here Affront Ophelia. Shak.

To encounter or meet purposely with the view of mastering, as an obstacle, difficulty, or the like. The thorny wilds the woodmen fierce assail. Pope.

A general action, fight, or encounter, in which all the divisions of an army are or may be engaged; an engagement; a combat.

A skirmish; an encounter. [Obs.]

To encounter; to remain firm under (a hardship); to endure; to suffer; to undergo. Poor naked wretches, wheresoe'er you are, That bide the pelting of this pitiless storm. Shak.

To encounter with courage and fortitude; to set at defiance; to defy; to dare. These I can brave, but those I can not bear. Dryden.

A skirmish; a slight encounter; a shock or collision; as, to have a brush with an enemy. Let grow thy sinews till their knots be strong, And tempt not yet the brushes of the war. Shak.

The kiling of another in self-defense upon a sudden and unpremeditated encounter. See Chaud-Medley.

To encounter. [Obs.]

To run together; to meet. [Obs.] Anon they fierce encountering both concurred With grisly looks and faces like their fates. J. Hughes.

A meeting of individuals, whether friendly or hostile; an encounter. [Obs.] Here Pallas urges on, and Lausus there;congress in the field great Jove withstands. Dryden.

Encountering, or coming together. Sir T. Browne.

iority, victory, defense, etc.; competition; emulation; strife in arms; conflict; combat; encounter. The late battle had, in effect, been a contest between one usurper and another. Hallam. It was fully expected that the contest there would be long and fierce. Macaulay.

To encounter; to meet; to have to do with. Horatio, thou art e'en as just a man As e'er my conversation coped withal. Shak.

An encounter. [Obs.] With kindly counter under mimic shade. Spenser.

That quality of mind which enables one to encounter danger and difficulties with firmness, or without fear, or fainting of heart; valor; boldness; resolution. The king-becoming graces . . . Devotion, patience, courage, fortitude, I have no relish of them. Shak. Courage that grows from constitution often forsakes a man…