1.2occur to(of a thought or idea) come into the mind of.
with clause‘it occurred to him that he hadn't eaten’
‘He would often get up from bed at night when an idea occurred to him and write it down.’
‘She turned her eyes down to the paw she held, several ideas occurring to her simultaneously.’
‘I leaned over again so that I could see it more clearly, then an idea occurred to me.’
‘An idea occurred to James at that moment and he allowed a small smile to play on his lips.’
‘The idea had occurred to him during a coffee break at his session the previous afternoon.’
‘There was some time left before the lesson started and an idea suddenly occurred to me.’
‘It is not surprising that such an idea would occur to a writer in the Hispanic world.’
‘The idea of putting it online did occur to me, but I don't know if I'd actually do it.’
‘If you have an idea, throw it in - even if it occurs to you in the middle of a show.’
‘It just occurs to me that this may be what is behind this idea of real money.’
enter one's head, enter one's mind, cross one's mind, come to mind, spring to mind, come to one, strike one, hit one, dawn on one, suggest itself, present itself, come into one's consciousness