happen up on
ən verb (used without object)
1.
to take place; come to pass; occur: Something interesting is always happening in New York.
2.
to come to pass by chance; occur without apparent reason or design: Don't ask me what caused it—it just happened, that's all.
3.
to have the fortune or lot (to do or be as specified); chance: I happened to see him on the street.
4.
to befall, as to a person or thing: Something dreadful has happened to me.
5.
to meet or discover by chance (usually followed by on or upon ): to happen on a clue to a mystery.
Synonyms
1. betide. Happen, chance, occur refer to the taking place of an event. Happen which originally denoted the taking place by hap or chance, is now the most general word for coming to pass: Something has happened. Chance suggests the accidental nature of an event: It chanced to rain that day. Occur is often interchangeable with happen but is more formal, and is usually more specific as to time and event: His death occurred the following year.
1. betide. Happen, chance, occur refer to the taking place of an event. Happen which originally denoted the taking place by hap or chance, is now the most general word for coming to pass: Something has happened. Chance suggests the accidental nature of an event: It chanced to rain that day. Occur is often interchangeable with happen but is more formal, and is usually more specific as to time and event: His death occurred the following year.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
|
Link To happen up on
00:10
Happen up on
is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
happen (ˈhæpən) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb (foll by to) | |
| 1. | (intr) (of an event in time) to come about or take place; occur |
| 2. | (of some unforeseen circumstance or event, esp death), to fall to the lot (of); be a source of good or bad fortune (to): if anything happens to me, it'll be your fault |
| 3. | (tr) to chance (to be or do something): I happen to know him |
| 4. | (tr; takes a clause as object) to be the case, esp if by chance, that: it happens that I know him |
| —adv, —sentence substitute | |
| 5. | dialect (Northern English) |
| a. another word for perhaps | |
| b. (as sentence modifier): happen I'll see thee tomorrow | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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