I just happened upon a strange little man in the street who offered to sell me a watch.
•Andrew happened on a book that interested him, so he bought it.
Dictionary of American idioms. 2013.
happen on/upon — [phrasal verb] happen on/upon (someone or something) literary + old fashioned : to find or meet (someone or something) by chance She happened on a little cottage in the woods. I happened upon them at the grocery store. • • • Main Entry: ↑happen … Useful english dictionary
catch/take someone or something by surprise — catch/take (someone or something) by surprise 1 : to happen to (someone or something) unexpectedly : to surprise (someone or something) The question caught him by surprise. The organization was taken completely by surprise by the announcement. 2 … Useful english dictionary
if someone thinks something, they have another think coming — spoken phrase used for saying that someone believes they know what will happen, but they are wrong If she thinks I’ll help her, she has another think coming. Thesaurus: ways of emphasizing that something is not true or likelysynonym Main entry:… … Useful english dictionary
happen — vb Happen, chance, occur, befall, betide, transpire are comparable when they mean to come to pass or to come about. Happen is the ordinary and general term and may imply either obvious causation or seeming accident, either design or an absence of … New Dictionary of Synonyms
someone can't stand to do something — someone can’t stand to do something phrase used for saying that someone dislikes something so much that they cannot allow it to happen She couldn’t stand to see him leave. Thesaurus: to hate or dislike someone or somethingsynonym Main entry:… … Useful english dictionary
happen to sb — happen to sb/sth ► to affect someone or something in a way that changes something: »Everywhere I go people are becoming more and more depressed by what is happening to their savings. Main Entry: ↑happen … Financial and business terms
happen to sb/sth — ► to affect someone or something in a way that changes something: »Everywhere I go people are becoming more and more depressed by what is happening to their savings. Main Entry: ↑happen … Financial and business terms
happen to sth — happen to sb/sth ► to affect someone or something in a way that changes something: »Everywhere I go people are becoming more and more depressed by what is happening to their savings. Main Entry: ↑happen … Financial and business terms
if someone thinks something, they have another think coming — spoken used for saying that someone believes they know what will happen, but they are wrong If she thinks I ll help her, she has another think coming … English dictionary
happen — verb (I) 1 if an event or situation happens, it exists and continues for a period of time, especially without being planned first: The accident happened early on Tuesday morning. | No one knew who had fired the gun it all happened so quickly. |… … Longman dictionary of contemporary English
happen — hap|pen [ hæpən ] verb intransitive *** to take place, usually without being planned: The accident happened at about 4:30 p.m. yesterday. The family was on vacation when the tragedy happened. He seemed to be unaware of what was happening around… … Usage of the words and phrases in modern English
