Real Dictionary

encounter
verb: If you encounter problems or difficulties, you experience them.
verb: If you encounter someone, you meet them, usually unexpectedly.

encounter in American English
a direct meeting, as in conflict or battle
designating or of a small group that meets for a kind of therapy in personal interrelationship, involving a release of inhibitions, an open exchange of intimate feelings, etc.
to meet accidentally or in opposition
to meet unexpectedly; come upon
intransitive verb: to meet, esp. unexpectedly or in conflict
noun: a meeting with a person or thing, esp. a casual, unexpected, or brief meeting
transitive verb: to come upon or meet with, esp. unexpectedly

encounter in British English
noun: a meeting with a person or thing, esp when casual or unexpected
verb: to come upon or meet casually or unexpectedly