The noun encounter has 4 senses (first 3 from tagged texts)
1. (7) brush, clash, encounter, skirmish -- (a minor short-term fight)
2. (4) meeting, encounter -- (a casual or unexpected convergence; "he still remembers their meeting in Paris"; "there was a brief encounter in the hallway")
3. (3) encounter, coming upon -- (a casual meeting with a person of thing)
4. confrontation, encounter, showdown, face-off -- (a hostile disagreement face-to-face)
Overview of verb encounter
The verb encounter has 5 senses (first 5 from tagged texts)
1. (18) meet, run into, encounter, run across, come across, see -- (come together; "I'll probably see you at the meeting"; "How nice to see you again!")
2. (8) find, happen, chance, bump, encounter -- (come upon, as if by accident; meet with; "We find this idea in Plato"; "I happened upon the most wonderful bakery not very far from here"; "She chanced upon an interesting book in the bookstore the other day")
3. (4) run into, encounter -- (be beset by; "The project ran into numerous financial difficulties")
4. (1) meet, encounter, receive -- (experience as a reaction; "My proposal met with much opposition")
5. (1) meet, encounter, play, take on -- (contend against an opponent in a sport, game, or battle; "Princeton plays Yale this weekend"; "Charlie likes to play Mary")