encounter

verb

1. (transitive)To meet (someone) or find (something), especially unexpectedly.

   “It fits Ioues ſonne / VVraſtle vvith Lyons, and to tugge vvith Beares, / Grapple vvith Dragons, and incounter VVhales.”

   “H' incounters Talgol, routs the Bear, / And takes the Fidler Prisoner; / Conveys him to enchanted Castle, / There shuts him fast in wooden Bastile.”

   “It ran derailed for about 500 yards before encountering a set of points, which caused it to veer into the path of an Immingham-Ferrybridge coal train, powered by Freightliner 66521 (one of a class of locomotive well-known for being well-built enough to destroy anything that got in its way).”

2. (transitive)To confront (someone or something) face to face.
3. (intransitive, rare)To meet one another.

   “[…] yet when the brother and the sister had encountered, according to the set appointment, none of these impassionedments had been repeated.”

4. (intransitive)To engage in conflict, as with an enemy.

   “Three armies encountered at Waterloo.”

   “Techelles, and the reſt prepare your ſwordes: I meane to incounter with that Baiazeth.”

   “I will encounter with Andronicus.”

5. (India, euphemistic, transitive)To kill or execute someone extrajudicially.

   “Speaking to the media, Reddy said, "He (Accused in 6-year-old rape and murder case) should be encountered. We will nab the accused and will encounter him. We will stand by the victim's family. We console them and will provide aid to the family. We will encounter him (the accused)."”

noun

1. A meeting, especially one that is unplanned or unexpected.

   “Their encounter was a matter of chance.”

   “That was Selwyn's first encounter with the Ruthvens. A short time afterward at the opera Gerald dragged him into a parterre to say something amiable to one of the amiable débutante Craig girls—and Selwyn found himself again facing Alixe.”

   “As they have planned the encounters, they mostly have control over the time limits.”

2. A hostile, often violent meeting; a confrontation, skirmish, or clash, as between combatants.
3. A match between two opposing sides.

   “Andre Santos equalised and the outstanding Theo Walcott put Arsenal ahead for the first time before Juan Mata's spectacular strike set up the finale for an enthralling encounter.”

4. A sexual encounter; sexual activity, especially unplanned or unexpected, between two people who have not already established a sexual relationship with each other. In many cases, it does not lead to a relationship, and thus is utterly transient. A sexual encounter can be consensual or non-consensual; in the latter case, it is known as sexual assault. A consensual sexual encounter that happens only once is commonly known as a one-night stand.

   “Though Mr. Cosby described the sexual encounter in 2004 as consensual, Ms. Constand said she was too intoxicated to physically or verbally resist.”

5. The period of a space mission during which it carries out its data-gathering objectives.
6. (India)An extrajudicial killing or execution.

   “Telangana Labour and Employment Minister Malla Reddy on Tuesday said that the guilty person in the rape and murder of a six-year-old girl in Hyderabad "will be nabbed and will be killed in an encounter".”