Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use befall in a sentence

14 example sentences · verb, noun

Befall means to fall upon; fall all over; overtake. Example: “At dusk an unusual calm befalls the wetlands.”

Examples of befall by meaning

verbTo fall upon; fall all over; overtake.

  • At dusk an unusual calm befalls the wetlands.

verbTo happen to.

  • Temptation befell me.
  • As we’ve said before, with the exception of communism itself, the euro has been the biggest economic catastrophe to befall the continent (and the world) since the 1930s.2013 April 15, Walter Russell Mead, “The Wreck of the Euro”, in The American Interest, retrieved 16 Apr 2013
  • This wasn't the last tragedy to befall Reading.2021 December 29, Stephen Roberts, “Stories and facts behind railway plaques: Reading (1840)”, in Rail, number 947, page 57

nounCase; instance; circumstance; event; incident; accident.

  • This is proposed to be done by moving necessary amendment in this befall to the Finance Bill.1990, India. Parliament. House of the People, India. Parliament. Lok Sabha, Lok Sabha debates

More sentences with befall

  • Woe seeped through her heart thinking of what had befallen their ethnic group.From the entry seep
  • I will stick with you, whatever fate befalls us.From the entry whatever
  • This time however, Sabrina unprivated her Facebook page, and overnight stardom befell the Decatur family.2023 November 1, Hayden J Emrah, “Michael Myers of Decatur: the man, the myth, the stabbin’ legend”, in The Decatur Daily Democrat…. From the entry unprivate
  • Despite all the many difficulties that have befallen her, Storm always makes free and responsible choices.2009, William Irwin, Rebecca Housel, J. Jeremy Wisnewski, X-Men and Philosophy. From the entry angstless
  • The eyes of your character will turn ablaze and no damage will befall you.1995 February, “Cheat Codes: Doom II”, in Computer Player, number 1.9, page 84. From the entry god mode
  • In the same year as the Furness objection, sadder tidings befell St Pancras Priory at Lewes, in East Sussex.2022 January 12, Joseph Brennan, “Castles: Ruined and Redeemed by Rail”, in Rail, number 948, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media…. From the entry impose
  • Whatever fate befalls him, this will not be dull.2018 May 4, Tom English, “Steven Gerrard: A 'seriously clever or recklessly stupid' Rangers appointment”, in BBC Sport. From the entry redeemer
  • "Of all the fates on heaven and earth, why did this one befall me?" "Don't have a cow, dad."1990, “The Call of the Simpsons” (0:12:10 from the start), in The Simpsons, season 1, episode 7, spoken by Homer Simpson and Bart Simpson…. From the entry have a cow
  • Darius, evoked from Hades to bring relief to the desperate condition of his realm, announces a yet greater calamity to befall his people.1924, Herbert Weir Smyth, “III. The Persians”, in Aeschylean Tragedy, page 80. From the entry supernaturalism

Meaning of befall

  1. verb To fall upon; fall all over; overtake.
  2. verb To happen.
  3. verb To happen to.

Full definition of befall

Questions about befall in a sentence

How do you use befall in a sentence?
Befall is used as a verb and noun. For example: “At dusk an unusual calm befalls the wetlands.”
What is a short sentence with befall?
“Temptation befell me.”
What does befall mean?
Befall means to fall upon; fall all over; overtake.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: befall (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this page: “How to use befall in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/befall. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.