come and go
Idioms-
Arrive and depart, either briefly or repeatedly; go to and fro. Shakespeare had it in The Merry Wives of Windsor (2:2): “He may come and go between you both.” [Late 1300s]
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Alternately appear and disappear, as in This rash is odd; it comes and goes . [Mid-1300s] Also see coming or going ; easy come, easy go .
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Many of these had been on long enough to be considered institutions, and though hosts would come and go, they would typically occupy their chair for a good long time.
From Los Angeles Times • May 21, 2026
"Political alliances will come and go," the spokesperson said.
From BBC • May 4, 2026
But while other classics come and go and jockey for position, a reliable fixture among the top 10—for the past four polls and 34 years—has been “Tokyo Story” by Yasujirō Ozu.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 30, 2026
She acknowledges that her profession is not stable: Jobs come and go with campaign cycles.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 3, 2026
“I missed you, Keiko. We need our girlfriends. Boys come and go, but friendship is forever.”
From "Keep It Together, Keiko Carter" by Debbi Michiko Florence
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
