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come

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verb

/kʌm/

present tense
I/you/we/they	come
he/she/it	comes
present participle	coming
past tense	came
past participle	come

Other entries for this word

Related dictionary definitions

more dictionary definitions

1
[intransitive] to move or travel to the place where you are
come across/along/down/into etc.:
A tall woman in black was coming across the lawn.
We have people coming to dinner tonight.
come here/home/nearer/downstairs etc.:
Billy, I want you to come here right now!
come and do something:
Come and tell me all about it.
come to do something:
Someone is supposed to come this morning to fix the computer.
come running/flying/rushing/crashing etc. somewhere:
All the glasses came crashing onto the floor.
come by train/car/airplane etc.:
We flew into Chicago and came the rest of the way by train.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
1. a.
  [intransitive] to go somewhere with someone
  I'm leaving now – are you coming?
  come with:
  We're all going into town and we thought you'd like to come with us.
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
2. b.
  [transitive] to move or travel a particular distance to where you are
  Have you come a long way?
  They've come about 10 miles from the next village.
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
2
[intransitive] to reach a particular state
come to a decision/conclusion/view etc.:
We came to the conclusion that she must be telling the truth.
come to an end/stop/halt/standstill:
All good things must come to an end.
come to power/prominence:
When the Freedom Party came to power they continued these policies.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
3
[intransitive] to start doing something
come into existence/operation/effect etc.:
The new changes will come into effect next month.
come into view/sight (=to start to be seen):
As we turned the corner, the top of the Eiffel Tower came into view.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
4
[intransitive] to reach a particular point or level
come as high/low/far etc. as something:
The road comes as far as the post office and then turns into a dirt path.
come up/down to something:
The water came up to my shoulders.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
5
[intransitive] if something such as a letter or message comes, you receive it
The news could not have come at a better time.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
6
[intransitive] to happen
Police investigated him for three years before the breakthrough came.
come as a shock/surprise/relief/disappointment/reminder etc. (=be a shock etc.):
It came as no surprise that she left the company.
This news has come as a disappointment to local business leaders.
coming soon:
Coming soon, the new smash-hit comedy starring Julia Roberts.
come in twos/threes etc. (=two/three etc. of them happen at the same time):
Instances of bad luck are supposed to come in threes.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
7
[intransitive] to be sold or produced
come in:
The long-sleeved dress comes in yellow and blue.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
8
[intransitive] to be in a particular position in a series or list or at the end of a race
come before/after:
July comes before August.
come first/second/third etc.:
She came first in a national poetry competition.
My children always come first (=are the most important thing for me).
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
9
[intransitive] impolite to have an orgasm (=reach the state of greatest sexual excitement)
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come

phrases

as nice/big etc. as they come
used for emphasizing how nice/big etc. someone or something is
Her husband is kind, helpful, and as handsome as they come.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
the best/worst is yet to come
the best or worst thing has not happened yet
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
come again?
informal
used for asking someone to repeat what they said
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
come and go
1. 1
  to arrive at a place and then leave it
  The woman in the apartment downstairs has people coming and going at all hours.
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
2. 2
  to be present or happen for a limited time and then stop
  Over the centuries we have seen many civilizations come and go.
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
come as
to wear unusual clothes that make you look like a particular kind of person for a costume party
He had come as Napoleon.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
come, come/come now
old-fashioned
1. 1
  used for telling someone not to be upset or nervous
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
2. 2
  used for telling someone that you do not believe or accept what they are saying
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
come into contact (with)
to be in a place where you meet someone or experience something
Could she have come into contact with the disease at school?
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
come a long way
to improve a lot, or to make a lot of progress
Computers have come a long way since the huge mainframes of the 1950s.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
come naturally/easily/easy (to someone)
to be easy for someone to do, without them needing to try hard
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
come to do something
1. 1
  to finally reach a state in which something happens or you do something
  She had come to regard him as one of her few real friends.
  the man who had come to symbolize the Franco-American alliance
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
2. 2
  to do something by chance
  I'm just explaining to them how we come to be in Nantucket.
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
come to hand
to be available easily and immediately
Use whatever tools come to hand.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
come to life
1. 1
  if something such as a machine comes to life, it begins to work
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
2. 2
  to seem real and natural
  a style of writing that will make your characters come to life on the page
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
3. 3
  to start to become exciting or lively
  The game really came to life in the second half.
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
4. 4
  to start to be alive
  Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
come to pass
literary
to happen
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
come to think of/about it
spoken
used for adding something that you have just remembered about a subject that you are talking about
I love getting her letters. Come to think of it, I haven't had one for a while.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
come true
if something that you have hoped for or expected comes true, it really happens
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
come undone/untied etc.
to become undone/untiedetc.
Fix your shoes – the laces have come undone.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
come what may
formal
despite anything that may happen
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
don't come the something (with me)
British informal
used for telling someone angrily not to pretend that they have particular feelings or are in a particular situation, because you do not believe them
Don't come the innocent with me!
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
get what's coming to you
informal
to experience something bad, which you deserve
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
have it coming (to you)
informal
to deserve something bad that happens to you
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
here comes someone
used for telling other people that someone is moving toward you
Here comes Dad, and he doesn't look very happy.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
not come cheap
informal
to cost a lot of money
Houses like this don't come cheap.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
not know whether you're coming or going
informal
to feel very confused, usually because you have too many things to deal with
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
take something as it comes
to not worry about something before it happens and deal with it calmly when it does happen
We're just taking each day as it comes.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come
to come
in the future
days/weeks/months etc. to come:
We were to remain enemies for years to come.
Thesaurus entry for this meaning of come

charticle

a news article that consists of a chart … and only has a small amount of text

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come

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Thesaurus

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phrases

as nice/big etc. as they come

the best/worst is yet to come

come again?

come and go

come as

come, come/come now

come into contact (with)

come a long way

come naturally/easily/easy (to someone)

come to do something

come to hand

come to life

come to pass

come to think of/about it

come true

come undone/untied etc.

come what may

don't come the something (with me)

get what's coming to you

have it coming (to you)

here comes someone

not come cheap

not know whether you're coming or going

take something as it comes

to come

phrasal verbs

charticle

Word of the Day

neutron

never event