come upon

verb

1. (intr, preposition) to meet or encounter unexpectedly

   I came upon an old friend in the street today

Idioms and Phrases

see come across, def. 1; come on, def. 3.

Example Sentences

He added that he has "an awful lot of sympathy for the staff members who would have had to come upon that scene and how distressing that must have been".

Read more on BBC

CHP officers responding to the crash came upon the damaged silver Hyundai sports utility vehicle in a business parking lot, northwest of the intersection.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Lord Fredrick had placed an advertisement for a baby nurse before the full moon curse had come upon him, but bread baking?

Read more on Literature

The Deanes, who had gained a measure of fame for having invented one of the earliest diving helmets, dove down and came upon the long-sunken Mary Rose.

Read more on Literature

Late on a cold afternoon in March, a motorist in Belleville, Ill., came upon a young boy wandering down a busy street without shoes and wearing only a T-shirt and pajama bottoms.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• bump into 
• come across