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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
Chandelis Duster, NPR, 19 Nov. 2024
The broad-daylight crime occurred while Conley was a special guest and sounded the Gjallarhorn at the Minnesota Vikings game on Sunday, Sept. 15.
—Anna Lazarus Caplan, People.com, 18 Nov. 2024
That phenomenon occurs when the moon appears larger and brighter than normal because of the sun’s closer-than-usual position to Earth.
Also expected to be seen is a major meteor shower from Sunday night into Monday.
—Rick Hurd, The Mercury News, 15 Nov. 2024
Splotchy teeth patterns have occurred with higher levels of fluoride, prompting the U.S. government to lower its recommendations from 1.2 milligrams per liter of water in 2015.
—Aleccia Washington, Twin Cities, 15 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for occur 
Dictionary Entries Near occur
Cite this Entry
“Occur.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/occur. Accessed 30 Nov. 2024.
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