come to
Britishverb
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to regain consciousness or return to one's normal state
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(adverb) nautical to slow a vessel or bring her to a stop
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(preposition) to amount to (a sum of money)
your bill comes to four pounds
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(preposition) to arrive at (a certain state)
what is the world coming to?
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Recover consciousness, as in She fainted but quickly came to . [Second half of 1500s]
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Arrive at, learn, as in I came to see that Tom had been right all along . [c. 1700]
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See amount to , def. 2.
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See when it comes to .
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Stop a sailboat or other vessel by bringing the bow into the wind or dropping anchor, as in “The gale having gone over, we came to” (Richard Dana, Two Years Before the Mast , 1840). [Early 1700s] Also see the subsequent entries beginning with come to .
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.
"Investors have come to view that restraint as a strength rather than a weakness, particularly as capex commitments at Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon run into the hundreds of billions of dollars each."
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
Andy Burnham’s first move, however, threatened what many have come to see as the only reliable thing in British politics: “Hot Podium Guy.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
Others who are not eligible for federal benefits come to the market seeking additional resources.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
The students’ process of losing teachers they had bonded with, come to trust and looked forward to having again is anything but painless.
From Salon ● Jul. 28, 2026
I knew he liked me, but Ma’s idea that we were going to come to some arrangement in such a short time was too ridiculous.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
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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.