View synonyms for come

come

[ kuhm ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

verb (used without object)

, came, come, com·ing.

to approach or move toward a particular person or place: Don't come any closer!
Come here.
Don't come any closer!
to arrive by movement or in the course of progress:
The train from Boston is coming.
Antonyms: depart, leave
to approach or arrive in time, in succession, etc.: I'll come to your question next.
Christmas comes once a year.
I'll come to your question next.
to move into view; appear:
A gorgeous rainbow came over the valley.
to extend; reach:
The dress comes to her knees.
to take place; occur; happen:
Success comes to those who strive.
to occur at a certain point, position, etc.: Her aria comes in the third act.
Tuesday comes after Monday.
Her aria comes in the third act.
to be available, produced, offered, etc.:
Toothpaste comes in a tube.
to occur to the mind:
The idea just came to me.
to befall:
They promised no harm would come to us.
to issue; emanate: be derived:
Peaches come from trees. Good results do not come from careless work.
to arrive or appear as a result:
This comes of carelessness.
to enter or be brought into a specified state or condition:
to come into popular use.
to do or manage; fare:
She's coming along well with her work.
to enter into being or existence; be born:
The baby came at dawn.
to have been a resident or to be a native of (usually followed by from ):
She comes from Florida.
to become:
His shoes came untied.
to seem to become:
His fears made the menacing statues come alive. The work will come easy with a little practice.
(used in the imperative to call attention or to express impatience, anger, remonstrance, etc.):
Come, that will do!
to germinate, as grain.
Slang: Vulgar. to have an orgasm.

verb (used with object)

, came, come, com·ing.

Chiefly British. to do; perform; accomplish:
Please don't ask me to carry in one more box—I just can't come it.
Informal. to play the part of:
to come the grande dame.

noun

Slang: Vulgar. semen.

verb phrase

come ( defs 26a, 41a ).
1. to return, especially to one's memory:
  It all comes back to me now.
2. to return to a former position or state.
3. to talk back; retort:
  to come back with a witty remark.
to produce; supply:
Can you come up with the right answer?
1. to arrive at; attain:
  It is often difficult to come at self-awareness.
2. to rush at; attack:
  The watchdog came at the intruder.
Slang. to make sexual advances to.
1. to acquire; get.
2. to inherit:
  He came into a large fortune at the age of 21.
1. to recover consciousness.
2. to amount to; total.
3. Nautical. to take the way off a vessel, slowing or stopping its movement, as by bringing its head into the wind or anchoring.
1. to recover consciousness; revive.
2. to change one's opinion, decision, etc., especially to agree with another's.
3. to visit:
  Come around more often.
4. to cease being angry, hurt, etc.
1. to enter.
2. to arrive.
3. to come into use or fashion.
4. to begin to produce or yield:
  The oil well finally came in.
5. to be among the winners:
  His horse came in and paid 5 to 1.
6. to finish in a race or any competition, as specified:
  Our bobsled team came in fifth.
1. Also come upon. to meet or find unexpectedly.
2. to make progress; develop; flourish.
3. to appear on stage; make one's entrance.
4. to begin; appear:
  The last showing will be coming on in a few minutes.
5. Informal. (used chiefly in the imperative) to hurry; begin:
  Come on, before it rains!
6. Informal. (as an entreaty or attempt at persuasion) please:
  Come on, go with us to the movies.
7. Slang. to try to make an impression or have an effect; present oneself:
  She comes on a bit too strong for my taste.
8. Slang. to make sexual advances:
  a Lothario who was always coming on with the women at the office.
1. to rise:
  The sun came up and the fog burned off.
2. to be referred to; arise:
  The subject kept coming up in conversation.
3. to be presented for action or discussion:
  The farm bill comes up for consideration next Monday.
4. to mature or learn, or to rise in rank:
  They are mostly looking at those major league players who come up through the minors.
5. Slang. hail from or grow up in:
  When you come up in the ’hood, you learn to value loyalty.
1. to accompany someone, attend as part of a group:
  He didn't come along on the last trip.
2. to proceed, develop, or advance sufficiently or successfully:
  The new project was coming along quite smoothly.
3. to appear; emerge as a factor or possibility:
  Even if another job comes along this summer, I won't take it.
1. to fit into a category or classification:
  This play comes under the heading of social criticism.
2. to be the province or responsibility of:
  This matter comes under the State Department.
1. to approach; near:
  A panhandler came up to us in the street.
2. to compare with as to quantity, excellence, etc.; match; equal:
  This piece of work does not come up to your usual standard.
1. to come to pass; happen.
2. Nautical. to tack.
1. to happen to; affect:
  What's come over him?
2. to change sides or positions; change one's mind:
  He was initially against the plan, but he's come over now.
3. to visit informally:
  Our neighbors came over last night and we had a good chat.
1. to be published; appear.
2. to become known; be revealed.
3. to make a debut in society, the theater, etc.
4. to end; terminate:
  The fight came out badly, as both combatants were injured.
5. to acknowledge and publicly reveal a sexual orientation or gender identity that does not conform to socially defined norms:
  After an unsuccessful five-year marriage to a man, I finally came out as a lesbian.
6. to publicly acknowledge a surprising interest or hobby, or to identify in an unexpected way as part of a fandom, a supporter of a particular political party, etc.: She came out as a fan of reality TV .
  I haven’t come out as a Trekkie to my coworkers yet.
  She came out as a fan of reality TV
to cause to be estranged or antagonized:
Love of money came between the brothers.
1. come ( def 29 ).
2. Nautical. (of a sailing vessel) to head toward the wind; come to.
to offer one's services; present oneself; volunteer:
When the president called for volunteers, several members of our group came forward.
to endorse or support publicly:
The newspaper came out for the reelection of the mayor.
1. Also come upon. to find or encounter, especially by chance: We suddenly came upon a deer while walking in the woods.
  I came across this picture when I was cleaning out the attic.
  We suddenly came upon a deer while walking in the woods.
2. Informal. to make good one's promise, as to pay a debt, do what is expected, etc.:
  to come across with the rent.
3. to be understandable or convincing:
  The moral of this story doesn't come across.
4. Informal. to make a particular impression; comport oneself:
  She comes across as a very cold person.
1. to speak, especially to confess or reveal something.
2. to make available to the public; bring out:
  The publisher is coming out with a revised edition of the textbook.
1. to lose wealth, rank, etc.; be reduced in circumstances or status.
2. to be handed down by tradition or inheritance.
3. to be relayed or passed along from a source of higher rank or authority:
  The general's orders will come down tomorrow.
4. Slang. to take place; happen.
5. Slang. to lose one's euphoria, enthusiasm, or especially the effects of a drug high.
to become afflicted with (an illness):
Many people came down with the flu this year.
1. to voice one's opposition to:
  She came down on increased spending and promised to cut the budget.
2. to reprimand; scold:
  He came down on me for getting to work late.
to obtain; acquire:
How did he ever come by so much money?
to receive; get; be subjected to:
This plan will no doubt come in for a great deal of criticism.
(used as a request to repeat a statement).
1. to endure or finish successfully.
2. Informal. to do as expected or hoped; perform; succeed:
  We knew you'd come through for us.
3. Informal. to experience religious conversion.

come

/ kʌm /

verb

to move towards a specified person or place
come to my desk
to arrive by movement or by making progress
to become perceptible
light came into the sky
to occur in the course of time
Christmas comes but once a year
to exist or occur at a specific point in a series
your turn comes next
to happen as a result
no good will come of this
to originate or be derived
good may come of evil
to occur to the mind
the truth suddenly came to me
to extend or reach
she comes up to my shoulder
to be produced or offered
that dress comes in red only
to arrive at or be brought into a particular state or condition
the new timetable comes into effect on Monday
you will soon come to grief
foll by from to be or have been a resident or native (of)
I come from London
to become
your wishes will come true
tr; takes an infinitive to be given awareness
I came to realize its enormous value
(of grain) to germinate
slang.
to have an orgasm
informal.
tr to play the part of
don't come the fine gentleman with me
informal.
tr to cause or produce
don't come that nonsense again
subjunctive use when (a specified time or event has arrived or begun)
she'll be sixteen come Sunday
come the revolution, you'll be the first to go
as…as they come
as…as they come the most characteristic example of a class or type
come again? informal.
come again? what did you say?
come and
come and imperative or dependent imperative to move towards a particular person or thing or accompany a person with some specified purpose
come and see what I've found
come clean informal.
come clean to make a revelation or confession
come good informal.
come good to recover and perform well after a bad start or setback
come it slang.
come it
1. to pretend; act a part
2. to exaggerate
3. often foll by over to try to impose (upon)
4. to divulge a secret; inform the police
come to light
come to light to be revealed
come to light with informal.
come to light with to find or produce
come to pass archaic.
come to pass to take place
how come? informal.
how come? what is the reason that?

interjection

an exclamation expressing annoyance, irritation, etc
come now!
come come!

noun

semen

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Word History and Origins

Origin of come¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English comen, Old English cuman; cognate with Dutch komen, German kommen, Gothic qiman, Old Norse koma, Latin venīre “to come,” Greek baínein “to go,” Sanskrit gámati, jagāti “(he) goes”; avenue, basis

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Word History and Origins

Origin of come¹

Old English cuman; related to Old Norse koma, Gothic qiman, Old High German queman to come, Sanskrit gámati he goes

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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

come and go, to occur briefly or suddenly but never for long; appear and disappear.
come down on the side of, to support or favor:
I want to come down on the side of truth and justice.
come home, Nautical.
1. (of an anchor) to begin to drag.
2. (of an object) to move when hauled upon.
come off it, Informal. to stop being wrong, foolish, or pretentious; be truthful or honest:
Come off it—we know you're as poor as the rest of us.
come off, Informal.
1. to happen; occur.
2. to reach the end; acquit oneself:
  to come off with honors.
3. to be given or completed; result:
  Her speech came off very well.
4. to succeed; be successful:
  The end of the novel just doesn't come off.
come to pass, to happen; occur:
And it came to pass that there was a drought in the kingdom.
come what may, no matter what may happen; regardless of any opposition, argument, or consequences:
Come what may, he will not change his mind.
where one is coming from, Slang. where the source of one's beliefs, attitudes, or feelings lies:
It's hard to understand where your friend is coming from when he says such crazy things.

More idioms and phrases containing come

bigger they come
cross a bridge when one comes to it
dream come true
easy come, easy go
first come, first served
full circle, come
get one's comeuppance
(come) to the point
how come
if the mountain won't come to Muhammad
if worst comes to worst
Johnny-come-lately
know enough to come in out of the rain
make a comeback
of age, come
on the scene, come
out of nowhere, come
push comes to shove
ship comes in, when one's
till the cows come home
what goes around comes around
when it comes down to
coming

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Example Sentences

Officials predict that the percentage of students who wish to remain virtual come fall will be small.

From Washington Post

Wall Street is not only unperturbed by the prospect of Washington awash in blue come January, it sees a possible upside.

From Fortune

Now, most trainers would now recommend redirecting the scratching dog to a better behavior, a come or a sit, rewarded with a treat.

From Time

The impact is big and there’s a lot to unpack here, so let’s take a look at ad spend and explore some of the options available to advertisers in the coming months.

From Search Engine Watch

However, they also detected red light produced by much cooler gas, which would most likely come from stars.

From The Smithsonian Insider

Meanwhile, in Florida, Bush was flooded with questions about whether gay marriage could possibly come to the Sunshine State.

From The Daily Beast

These generally come from the outside, from cultural pressures and messages.

From The Daily Beast

But there is an underlying feeling that the worst is yet to come.

From The Daily Beast

My agent at the time sent that tape to SNL and then they asked me to come in for an audition.

From The Daily Beast

And suddenly, we were able to come up with all these scenes for it.

From The Daily Beast

In their shelter, Brion and Ulv crouched low and wondered why the attack didn't come.

From Project Gutenberg

Babylas raised his pale face; he knew what was coming; it had come so many times before.

From Project Gutenberg

He reached forward and took her hands, and if Mrs. Vivian had come in she would have seen him kneeling at her daughter's feet.

From Project Gutenberg

Vicars' wives had come and gone, but all had submitted, some after a brief struggle, to old Mrs. Wurzel's sway.

From Project Gutenberg

This wasn't at all what he meant to say, and it sounded very ridiculous; but somehow the words wouldn't come straight.

From Project Gutenberg

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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