come up
Britishverb
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to come to a place regarded as higher
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(of the sun) to rise
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to begin
a wind came up
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to be regurgitated or vomited
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to present itself or be discussed
that question will come up again
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to begin a term, esp one's first term, at a college or university
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to appear from out of the ground
my beans have come up early this year
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informal to win
have your premium bonds ever come up?
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to be faced with; come into conflict or competition with
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to equal or meet a standard
that just doesn't come up to scratch
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to produce or find
she always comes up with the right answer
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Arise, present itself, as in This question never came up . [Mid-1800s]
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Rise (from a lower place to a higher one) as in We'll leave as soon as the sun comes up . [9th century]
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Also, come up to . Approach, come near, as in He came up and said hello , or The dog came right up to Nora . [Early 1700s]
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Also, come up to . Rise in status or value, be equal to, as in His paintings will never come up to his teacher's , or This officer came up through the ranks . [c. 1600] A variant is , used for someone who has risen in rank, wealth, or status; for example, He has really come up in the world—he now owns a yacht , or I could see at once that she was a woman who would rise in the world . Also see the subsequent idioms beginning with come up .
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.
He contends that no one has yet come up with “a single case of a demonstrably innocent person executed in America in the modern era.”
From Slate ● Aug. 13, 2026
“Taylor was trying to come up with names and he’s like, ‘How about Chevy Metal?’
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
“If you toss a coin enough times, it will probably come up heads at least once.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
Brown, McVay acknowledged that Adams’ name had come up in trade talks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2026
I open my computer and search for list poems, and tons of examples come up.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
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.
