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meet

/miːt//miːt/·verb
to come together with someone or something; to satisfy a requirement or need
Fig. 1 — I follow two roads climbing from opposite corners, and on each a single traveller, neither aware of the other.
01Definition

To meet is for separate things to come together at one place or moment — two roads meet, old friends meet, a river meets the sea. From the Old English mētan, it has always carried this coming-together, but its real academic value is abstract: to meet a deadline, a target, or a demand is to be enough for it, to rise to what is asked. Where independent paths converge on the same point, they meet — and from that point they may go on together.

02In use
  • iTwo winding roads meet at the old stone bridge and run on as one.
  • iiThe new plant was built to meet the rising demand for batteries.
  • iiiIf the proposal fails to meet the committee's requirements, it will be sent back for revision.
03Collocations
  • meet a deadline
  • meet requirements
  • meet demand
  • meet expectations
  • where two roads meet

Family meeting (noun) · meeting point (noun)

04Relations

=converge, encounter, gather, join, assemble

≠part, diverge, separate

05Compared
PairThe difference
meet vs amalgamatemerge several things into one body → amalgamate; come into contact at the same point, or satisfy a requirement → meet.
meet vs blendmix several things into one seamless whole → blend; come into contact at the same point, or satisfy a requirement → meet.
meet vs coalesceseparate things grow together into one whole → coalesce; come into contact at the same point, or satisfy a requirement → meet.
meet vs coincidetwo things fall on the same point or time, often by chance → coincide; come together at a point, often on purpose → meet.
meet vs concentrategather many things to one point, making them denser → concentrate; come into contact at the same point, or satisfy a requirement → meet.

Also compared with converge, disperse, dissipate, diverge, divide, fuse, intersect, merge, radiate, scatter, separate, split

06TOEFL & IELTS

The academic gold in meet is its abstract collocations, all meaning 'be sufficient for': meet a deadline, meet requirements, meet the criteria, meet expectations, and — in economics — meet demand ('supply meets demand' is an IELTS Task 1 staple). Note 'meet with' is an arranged, more formal discussion (meet with the board), and with an abstract noun it means to receive: meet with success, meet with resistance. The past tense is irregular — met, never 'meeted'.

07Asked
What does 'meet a deadline' mean?
To finish something by the time it is due — here meet has nothing to do with people; it means to satisfy a requirement in time. It takes a direct object with no preposition: you meet the deadline, not 'meet to the deadline'. The same frame gives meet a target, meet a quota, meet a schedule — all high-value in exam writing.
What does 'meet requirements' mean?
To be enough for what is formally asked — to satisfy a set of conditions. Cluster the whole exam-writing family: meet the requirements, meet the criteria, meet the conditions, meet the standard, meet a need. All say the thing measures up. It is formal and neutral, exactly the register rewarded in Task 2 and academic writing.
What is the difference between 'meet' and 'meet with'?
Bare meet is to encounter or come together (I met her at the station; the rivers meet). Meet with usually means an arranged, more formal discussion — 'the minister met with union leaders' — and is more common in American English. Meet with also pairs with abstract nouns to mean 'receive': the plan met with approval, met with fierce resistance.
What is the past tense of meet?
Met — meet is irregular, so both the past and the past participle are met (I met them yesterday; we had met before). There is no 'meeted'. Mind the vowel too: the base meet has a long /iː/, while met is a short /e/, so the tense change is heard as well as spelled.
When do you say 'nice to meet you'?
Only the first time you are introduced to someone — meet here marks a first encounter. Once you already know a person, switch to 'nice to see you' or 'good to see you again'. Saying 'nice to meet you' to someone you have met before is a common and slightly awkward learner slip.
Can two roads or lines 'meet'?
Yes — meet works for things as well as people: roads meet, rivers meet, edges meet. In the scene above two roads meet at a junction and join into one. If instead two lines cross at a point and each carries on beyond it, the exact verb is intersect: lines that cross and continue, rather than paths that arrive and join.