encounter
n. countablen. an unexpected meeting with someone or something. It can also describe a short, exciting experience or a competition between two people or teams.
n. an unexpected or casual meeting with someone or something; alternatively, a brief or hostile confrontation between opposing parties. Often used in sports to describe a match or fixture between rivals.
The team won their first encounter of the season.
The hiker had a brief encounter with a bear while walking through the woods yesterday morning.
Despite their long-standing rivalry, the post-match encounter between the two captains was marked by a surprising degree of mutual respect and professional courtesy.
From Middle English encountren, from Anglo-Norman encountrer, Old French encontrer (“to confront”), from encontre (“against, counter to”), from Late Latin incontrā (“in front of”) itself from Latin in (“in”) + contrā (“against”).
Often takes the preposition 'with' when describing a meeting, or 'between' when describing a competition.