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Synonyms

come to

British  

verb

  1. to regain consciousness or return to one's normal state

  2. (adverb) nautical to slow a vessel or bring her to a stop

  3. (preposition) to amount to (a sum of money)

    your bill comes to four pounds

  4. (preposition) to arrive at (a certain state)

    what is the world coming to?

"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

come to Idioms  
  1. Recover consciousness, as in She fainted but quickly came to . [Second half of 1500s]

  2. Arrive at, learn, as in I came to see that Tom had been right all along . [c. 1700]

  3. See amount to , def. 2.

  4. See when it comes to .

  5. 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.

See Examples For:

"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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