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The Meaning of Occur and the Spelling of Its Forms
Occur has three meanings. It means "to be found or met with; appear," as in "a phenomenon that occurs around the world"; it means "to come into existence; happen," as in "an event that occurred on Friday"; and it means "to come to mind," as in "it occurs to me that the word is quite useful."
It's an unusual-looking word, being so small but with two c's up against each other, and then just a simple r at the end. The r is doubled, though, for the past tense: occurred. And the double r continues in the present participle: occurring.
Synonyms
Examples of occur in a Sentence
Brad Wolf, Twin Cities, 7 Feb. 2025
Flash flood emergencies are the most severe level of flash flood warning and indicate that life-threatening flooding is occurring.
—Mary Gilbert, CNN, 6 Feb. 2025
Bringing in an independent arbitrator to review both sides’ arguments typically occurs when contract discussions are stalled or there is a stalemate and is a required step before the union can go on strike.
—Ikram Mohamed, Chicago Tribune, 6 Feb. 2025
Another critical transition also occurs at a specific point in time in the process by which normal cells are transformed into cancer cells, as the result of an accumulation of both genetic and epigenetic changes.
—Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 6 Feb. 2025
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Dictionary Entries Near occur
Cite this Entry
“Occur.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/occur. Accessed 9 Feb. 2025.
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