come by

British  

verb

1. (intr, preposition) to find or obtain (a thing), esp accidentally

   do you ever come by any old books?

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come by Idioms  

1. 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 This usage, dating from about 1600, superseded the earlier sense of acquiring something with considerable effort.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 .

2. Stop in, visit, as in Please come by whenever you're in the neighborhood . [Late 1800s]

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

come by

The recent government scrutiny of deals by Walter’s insurance companies seemed to come by chance.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

CEO Charlie Morrison told MarketWatch on Thursday that the chain’s most loyal customers come by around once a month.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 30, 2026

However, she has found game time hard to come by under Liverpool boss Gareth Taylor, starting just once in the WSL before joining Forest in January.

From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026

But that will come at the expense of 228 parking spots, which are already hard to come by in the neighborhood.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026

More clues for many families, including Axel’s, come by way of photos.

From "A Bird Will Soar" by Alison Green Myers

Related Words

• come over
• drop by
• drop in