From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishfatefate /feɪt/ ●○○ noun 1 [countable usually singular]FUTURE the things that happen to someone or something, especially unpleasant things that end their existence or end a particular period I wouldn’t wish such a fate on my worst enemy.fate of No one knows what the fate of the hostages will be.► see thesaurus at future2 [uncountable]CHANCE/BY CHANCE a power that is believed to control what happens in people’s lives Fate plays cruel tricks sometimes.a twist/quirk of fate (=something unexpected that happens) By a strange twist of fate, Smith’s first match is against the team that gave him the sack last season.3 → a fate worse than death → tempt fate at tempt(3)COLLOCATIONSverbssuffer a fateWe must prevent other children from suffering the same fate.meet a fateThe beautiful old building met a sad fate when it was sold off to property developers.decide/settle somebody’s/something’s fateThe meeting will decide the fate of the factory.The court’s decision settled Anderson’s fate.seal somebody’s fate (=make it certain that something bad will happen to someone, especially that they will die)Engine failure sealed the pilot’s fate.leave/abandon somebody to their fate (=leave someone in a bad situation)The abandoned sailors were left to their fate on the island.discover/find out somebody’s fateHe only discovered his sister’s fate after the war.resign yourself to/accept your fateI had no choice but to resign myself to my fate.a fate awaits somebody formal (=a fate will happen to someone)A terrible fate awaited any soldier who was captured.a fate befalls somebody formal (=someone suffers a particular fate)I wondered what fate would befall me.adjectivesthe same fateHe did not intend to meet the same fate as his companion.a similar fateThe project suffered a similar fate to many of its predecessors.somebody’s ultimate fate (=what finally happens to someone)The ultimate fate of the refugees is in our hands.a terrible/horrible/grim fateThe crew of the ship met a terrible fate.a sad/tragic fateThe play is about the tragic fate of two lovers.a cruel fateShe suffered a cruel fate at the hands of her captors.an uncertain fate (=not clear, definite, or decided)The Bill faces an uncertain fate in the Senate.phrasesyour fate is in somebody’s hands (=someone will decide what happens to you)His fate is now in the hands of the judge.
Examples from the Corpus
fate• But fate had put into his lap one of the ubiquitous nobodies.• It wasn't as if she was in any hurry to learn her fate.• I am satisfied with my fate.• By a strange twist of fate the judge died on the very day that Cordell was executed.• They saw themselves as victims of fate.• He felt that fate had been very unfair to him.• He urged a nationwide referendum to decide the fate of the country.• Congress will meet to discuss the fate of the US nuclear defense shield.• This afternoon's debate is likely to seal the fate of the imprisoned aid workers.• The fate of the prisoners will be decided by a panel of three judges.• The solutions offered by New Right commentators and their fate is the subject of later chapters.• No, we will leave such things to fate.• It was fate that brought us together.fate of• These rulings will affect the fate of more than 6,000 refugees.a twist/quirk of fate• Despite her desolation, Nora Simpson was not the sort of woman to be beaten by a twist of fate.Origin fate (1300-1400) French Latin fatum “what has been spoken (by the gods)”, from fari “to speak” 