come

[kuhm]

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verb (used without object), came, come, com·ing.

to approach or move toward a particular person or place: Come here. Don't come any closer!

to arrive by movement or in the course of progress: The train from Boston is coming.

to approach or arrive in time, in succession, etc.: Christmas comes once a year. I'll come to your question next.

to move into view; appear.

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.: 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.

Informal. to have an orgasm.

verb (used with object), came, come, com·ing.

Chiefly British. to do; perform; accomplish.

Informal. to play the part of: to come the grande dame.

noun

Slang: Vulgar. semen.

Verb Phrases

come about,

to come to pass; happen.
Nautical.to tack.

come across,

Also come upon.to find or encounter, especially by chance: I came across this picture when I was cleaning out the attic. We suddenly came upon a deer while walking in the woods.
Informal.to make good one's promise, as to pay a debt, do what is expected, etc.: to come across with the rent.
to be understandable or convincing: The moral of this story doesn't come across.
Informal.to make a particular impression; comport oneself: She comes across as a very cold person.

come again, (used as a request to repeat a statement).

come along,

to accompany someone, attend as part of a group: He didn't come along on the last trip.
to proceed, develop, or advance sufficiently or successfully: The new project was coming along quite smoothly.
to appear; emerge as a factor or possibility: Even if another job comes along this summer, I won't take it.

come around/round,

to recover consciousness; revive.
to change one's opinion, decision, etc., especially to agree with another's.
to visit: Come around more often.
to cease being angry, hurt, etc.

come at,

to arrive at; attain.
to rush at; attack: The watchdog came at the intruder.

come back,

to return, especially to one's memory: It all comes back to me now.
to return to a former position or state.
to talk back; retort: to come back with a witty remark.

come between, to cause to be estranged or antagonized: Love of money came between the brothers.

come by, to obtain; acquire: How did he ever come by so much money?

come down,

to lose wealth, rank, etc.; be reduced in circumstances or status.
to be handed down by tradition or inheritance.
to be relayed or passed along from a source of higher rank or authority: The general's orders will come down tomorrow.
Slang.to take place; happen.
Slang.to lose one's euphoria, enthusiasm, or especially the effects of a drug high.

come down on/upon,

to voice one's opposition to: She came down on increased spending and promised to cut the budget.
to reprimand; scold: He came down on me for getting to work late.

come down with, to become afflicted with (an illness): Many people came down with the flu this year.

come forward, to offer one's services; present oneself; volunteer: When the president called for volunteers, several members of our group came forward.

come in,

to enter.
to arrive.
to come into use or fashion.
to begin to produce or yield: The oil well finally came in.
to be among the winners: His horse came in and paid 5 to 1.
to finish in a race or any competition, as specified: Our bobsled team came in fifth.

come in for, to receive; get; be subjected to: This plan will no doubt come in for a great deal of criticism.

come into,

to acquire; get.
to inherit: He came into a large fortune at the age of 21.

come on,

Also come upon.to meet or find unexpectedly.
to make progress; develop; flourish.
to appear on stage; make one's entrance.
to begin; appear: The last showing will be coming on in a few minutes.
Informal.(used chiefly in the imperative) to hurry; begin: Come on, before it rains!
Informal.(as an entreaty or attempt at persuasion) please: Come on, go with us to the movies.
Slang.to try to make an impression or have an effect; present oneself: She comes on a bit too strong for my taste.
Slang.to make sexual advances: a Lothario who was always coming on with the women at the office.

come on to, Slang. to make sexual advances to.

come out,

to be published; appear.
to become known; be revealed.
to make a debut in society, the theater, etc.
to end; terminate; emerge: The fight came out badly, as both combatants were injured.
to make more or less public acknowledgment of being homosexual.

come out for, to endorse or support publicly: The newspaper came out for the reelection of the mayor.

come out with,

to speak, especially to confess or reveal something.
to make available to the public; bring out: The publisher is coming out with a revised edition of the textbook.

come over,

to happen to; affect: What's come over him?
to change sides or positions; change one's mind: He was initially against the plan, but he's come over now.
to visit informally: Our neighbors came over last night and we had a good chat.

come round,

come(def 29).
Nautical.(of a sailing vessel) to head toward the wind; come to.

come through,

to endure or finish successfully.
Informal.to do as expected or hoped; perform; succeed: We knew you'd come through for us.
Informal.to experience religious conversion.

come to,

to recover consciousness.
to amount to; total.
Nautical.to take the way off a vessel, as by bringing her head into the wind or anchoring.

come under,

to fit into a category or classification: This play comes under the heading of social criticism.
to be the province or responsibility of: This matter comes under the State Department.

come up,

to be referred to; arise: The subject kept coming up in conversation.
to be presented for action or discussion: The farm bill comes up for consideration next Monday.

come upon. come(defs 26a, 41a).

come up to,

to approach; near: A panhandler came up to us in the street.
to compare with as to quantity, excellence, etc.; match; equal: This piece of work does not come up to your usual standard.

come up with, to produce; supply: Can you come up with the right answer?

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.

(of an anchor) to begin to drag.
(of an object) to move when hauled upon.

come off, Informal.

to happen; occur.
to reach the end; acquit oneself: to come off with honors.
to be given or completed; occur; result: Her speech came off very well.
to succeed; be successful: The end of the novel just doesn't come off.

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 to pass, to happen; occur.

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.

Origin of come

before 900; Middle English comen, Old English cuman; cognate with Dutch komen, German kommen, Gothic qiman, Old Norse koma, Latin venīre (see avenue), Greek baínein (see basis), Sanskrit gácchati (he) goes

Antonyms for come

2. leave, depart.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for come

materialize, hit, appear, get, move, reach, enter, show, become, happen, arrive, occur, break, develop, fall, run, join, turn, go, grow

Examples from the Web for come

Contemporary Examples of come

But there is an underlying feeling that the worst is yet to come.
Europe’s Islam Haters Say We Told You So
Barbie Latza Nadeau
January 8, 2015
My agent at the time sent that tape to SNL and then they asked me to come in for an audition.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness
Marlow Stern
January 7, 2015
And suddenly, we were able to come up with all these scenes for it.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness
Marlow Stern
January 7, 2015
I thought about the mother, her fear of the dark, of the harm she feared might come to her daughters.
I Tried to Warn You About Sleazy Billionaire Jeffrey Epstein in 2003
Vicky Ward
January 7, 2015
Schedules work out and we just have them come out to Portland.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness
Marlow Stern
January 7, 2015

Historical Examples of come

Say, you come out with me some night jest in your workin' clothes.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
He's getting old, and he's come along into his second childhood.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
Beyond it, I saw you standing with outstretched arms, as if you sought to come to me, but could not.
Philothea
Lydia Maria Child
How's it come you didn't have a Western Union frank this year?
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson
I certainly did need you to come along right now and set me straight.
The Spenders
Harry Leon Wilson

British Dictionary definitions for come

come

verb comes, coming, came or come (mainly intr)

to move towards a specified person or placecome to my desk

to arrive by movement or by making progress

to become perceptiblelight came into the sky

to occur in the course of timeChristmas comes but once a year

to exist or occur at a specific point in a seriesyour turn comes next

to happen as a resultno good will come of this

to originate or be derivedgood may come of evil

to occur to the mindthe truth suddenly came to me

to extend or reachshe comes up to my shoulder

to be produced or offeredthat dress comes in red only

to arrive at or be brought into a particular state or conditionyou will soon come to grief; the new timetable comes into effect on Monday

(foll by from) to be or have been a resident or native (of)I come from London

to becomeyour wishes will come true

(tr; takes an infinitive) to be given awarenessI came to realize its enormous value

(of grain) to germinate

slang to have an orgasm

(tr) British informal to play the part ofdon't come the fine gentleman with me

(tr) British informal to cause or producedon'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 the most characteristic example of a class or type

come again? informal what did you say?

come and (imperative or dependent imperative) to move towards a particular person or thing or accompany a person with some specified purposecome and see what I've found

come clean informal to make a revelation or confession

come good informal to recover and perform well after a bad start or setback

come it slang

to pretend; act a part
to exaggerate
(often foll by over)to try to impose (upon)
to divulge a secret; inform the police

come to light to be revealed

come to light with Australian and NZ informal to find or produce

come to pass archaic to take place

how come? informal what is the reason that?

interjection

an exclamation expressing annoyance, irritation, etccome now!; come come!

noun taboo, slang

semen

Word Origin for come

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for come

Old English cuman "come, approach, land; come to oneself, recover; arrive; assemble" (class IV strong verb; past tense cuom, com, past participle cumen), from Proto-Germanic *kwem- (cf. Old Saxon cuman, Old Frisian kuma, Middle Dutch comen, Dutch komen, Old High German queman, German kommen, Old Norse koma, Gothic qiman), from PIE root *gwa-, *gwem- "to go, come" (cf. Sanskrit gamati "he goes," Avestan jamaiti "goes," Tocharian kakmu "come," Lithuanian gemu "to be born," Greek bainein "to go, walk, step," Latin venire "to come").

The substitution of Middle English -o- for Old English -u- before -m-, -n-, or -r- was a scribal habit before minims to avoid misreading the letters in the old style handwriting, which jammed letters. The practice similarly transformed some, monk, tongue, worm. Modern past tense form came is Middle English, probably from Old Norse kvam, replacing Old English cuom.

Remarkably productive with prepositions (NTC's "Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs" lists 198 combinations); consider the varied senses in come to "regain consciousness," come over "possess" (as an emotion), come at "attack," come on (interj.) "be serious," and come off "occur." For sexual senses, see cum.

Idioms and Phrases with come

come

In addition to the idioms beginning with come

come about
come across
come again?
come alive
come along
come a long way
come and get it
come and go
come apart at the seams
come around
come at
come back
come between
come by
come clean
come down
come down on
come down the pike
come down to
come down with
comedy of errors
come forward
come from
come from behind
come full circle
come hell or high water
come home to roost
come in
come in for
come in from the cold
come in handy
come in out of the rain, know enough to
come into
come of
come of age
come off
come off it
come on
come one's way
come on in
come on strong
come on to
come out
come out ahead
come out for
come out in the wash, it will
come out of
come out of nowhere
come out of the closet
come out with
come over
come round
come through
come to
come to a halt
come to a head
come to an end
come to blows
come to grief
come to grips with
come to life
come to light
come to mind
come to no good
come to nothing
come to one's senses
come to pass
come to terms
come to that
come to the point
come to the same thing
come to think of it
come true
come under
come unglued
come up
come up against
come up in the world
come upon
come up roses
come up to
come up with
come what may
come with the territory

also see:

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

Also see undercoming.