come by

British  

verb

1. (intr, preposition) to find or obtain (a thing), esp accidentally

   do you ever come by any old books?

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come by Idioms  

1. Acquire, obtain, as in A good assistant is hard to come by . This usage, dating from about 1600, superseded the earlier sense of acquiring something with considerable effort. A variant is come by honestly , meaning “to obtain in some honorable or logical way.” For example, I'm sure she didn't come by that large bonus honestly or He does have an unusual gait but he came by it honestly; his father's is the same .

2. Stop in, visit, as in Please come by whenever you're in the neighborhood . [Late 1800s]

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Example Sentences

"I've talked to some of these pilots. I've told them, 'You guys see me waving when you come by the house?' I'm like, 'You guys are always welcome to cruise by my house, any time.'"

From BBC

Generation X grew up with Jackson, whose mass audience introduction came by way of roles on “Good Times” and “Fame” in her teens.

From Salon

“Tina” makes it tough to do so because of the way Turner comes by her conclusions about life and specifically her life.

From Salon

Swift previously spoke of her admiration for the star, saying: "Role models are pretty hard to come by, but I would say she is one of mine."

From BBC

“Books have been hard to come by lately. The humans are hoarding them. Or maybe they stopped using them, hard to tell. But I keep my eyes open.”

From Literature

Related Words

• come over
• drop by
• drop in