Naut. to change course so that the sail or sails shift from one side of the vessel to the other, esp. to do so as by turning the bow into and across the wind; tack
come across
to meet by accident; find by chance
Informal to be effective, readily understood, etc.
â Slang to give, do, or say what is wanted; provide (with what is needed)
come again?
Informal what did you say?please repeat that!
come alive
to become excited, enthusiastic, etc.
to become exciting, interesting, etc. new curtains made the room come alive
to reach the age when one has full legal rights: often used figuratively for any arrival at maturity, one's prime, etc. baseball came of age in the 1920s
come off
to become unfastened or detached
to happen; occur
to end up; emerge, as from a contest
â Informal to prove effective, successful, etc. humor that didn't come off
come off it!
â
Slang stop acting or talking in that way!
come on
to make progress
to meet by accident; find
to appear, begin to work, make an entrance, etc.
come on!
Informal
used to signify
invitation, often to a different place
encouragement, urgency, etc. come on! you can do it
objection, disagreement, refusal to believe, etc. come on! you can't be serious
: Often used as a cajoling expression equivalent to please
come on to
Slang to make sexual advances toward
come out
to be disclosed; become evident
to be offered for public inspection, sale, etc.
to be formally introduced to society; make a debut
to end up; turn out how did the election come out?
â to become actively homosexual or reveal that one is homosexual
come out for
to announce one's approval of; endorse
come out with
to disclose
to say; utter; publish
to offer for public inspection, sale, etc.
come over
to happen to; occur to; seize a strange feeling came over me
come through
to wear through
â to complete or endure something successfully
â Informal to do what is wanted; provide (with what is needed)
come to
to recover consciousness
Naut.
to bring the ship's head nearer the wind
to stop moving; also, to anchor
come up
to arise; begin a light breeze came up
to be mentioned, as in a discussion
to rise or improve, as in status
to be put forward, as for a vote
Brit. to enter a university
come upon
to meet or encounter by accident
to attack
come up to
to reach or extend to
to equal
come up with
to propose, produce, find, suggest, etc.
See come in American Heritage Dictionary 4 Idioms
come a cropper
To fail utterly.
come again
Used as a request to repeat what was said.
come clean
To confess all.
come down on
To punish, oppose, or reprimand severely and often with force: a district attorney who came down hard on drug dealers.
come down to
To confront or deal with forthrightly: When you come right down to it, you have to admit I'm correct.
To amount to in essence: It comes down to this: the man is a cheat.
come down with
To become sick with (an illness): came down with the flu.
come in for
To receive; be subjected to: came in for harsh criticism.
come into (one's) own
To get possession of what belongs to one.
To obtain rightful recognition or prosperity: a concert pianist who has at last come into his own.
come off it
Slang
To stop acting or speaking foolishly or pretentiously. Often used in the imperative.
come out with
To put into words; say: always comes out with the truth.
To reveal publicly: came out with a new tax package.
come to blows
To begin a physical fight.
come to grief
To meet with disaster; fail.
come to grips with
To confront squarely and attempt to deal decisively with: “He had to come to grips with the proposition”(Louis Auchincloss).
light
come to /hand
To be clearly revealed or disclosed: “A further problem . . . came to light last summer as a result of post-flight inspections”(John Noble Wilford).
come to terms
To confront squarely and come to understand fully and objectively: “He attempts to come to terms with his own early experiences . . . and with his father, a con man of extravagant dimensions”(Peter S. Prescott).
To reach mutual agreement: The warring factions have at last come to terms.
come true
To happen as predicted: My fondest dreams have at last come true.
come up against
To encounter, especially a difficulty or major problem.
come up with
To bring forth, discover, or produce: came up with a cure for the disease.