come by
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verb
(intr, preposition) to find or obtain (a thing), esp accidentallydo you ever come by any old books?
QUIZ
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Question 1 of 7
Fill in the blank: I can’t figure out _____ gave me this gift.
Words nearby come by
come at, come-at-able, come away, comeback, come between, come by, come clean, COMECON, comedian, comedic, Comédie Française
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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How to use come by in a sentence
Other Idioms and Phrases with come by
come by
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 This usage, dating from about 1600, superseded the earlier sense of acquiring something with considerable effort.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.
Stop in, visit, as in Please come by whenever you're in the neighborhood. [Late 1800s]
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.