come to terms
Idioms-
Reach an agreement, as in The landlord and his tenants soon came to terms regarding repairs . [Early 1700s]
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come to terms with . Reconcile oneself to, as in He'd been trying to come to terms with his early life . [Mid-1800s]
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.
The only exterior detail I couldn’t come to terms with were the rose-gold accents in the headlamp assemblies.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 2, 2026
“There is a chance that this will work, that maybe the Chinese go to the Iranians and say ‘What is it going to take for you to come to terms with the Americans?’”
From MarketWatch • Apr. 13, 2026
“I just feel bad because Amanda knows that what she did was wrong, and she’s trying to come to terms with it, but she is not well.”
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026
But despite the "enormity" of goodwill witnessed "in the city and beyond", Fr Gormley said Amy's loved ones are struggling to come to terms with "the reality of what has happened".
From BBC • Mar. 26, 2026
He didn’t know how to come to terms with what had happened.
From "Tiger, Tiger" by Lynne Reid Banks
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.
