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What does "come" mean?

In addition to the idioms beginning with come, also see bigger they come; cross a bridge when one comes to it; dream come true; easy come, easy go; first come, first served; full circle, come; get one's comeuppance; (come) to the point; how come; if the mountain won't come to Muhammad; if worst comes to worst; Johnny-come-lately; know enough to come in out of the rain; make a comeback; of age, come; on the scene, come; out of nowhere, come; push comes to shove; ship comes in, when one's; till the cows come home; what goes around comes around; when it comes down to. Also see under coming.

See come in WNW Idioms

as good (or tough or strong, etc.) as they come

among the best (or toughest, strongest, etc.)

come about

to happen; occur
to turn about
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

come along

to appear or arrive
to proceed or succeed

come and get it!

Informal the meal is ready!: a summons to eat

come around

or come round

to revive; recover
to make a turn or change in direction
to concede or yield, as to a demand
Informal to come to visit

come at

to reach; attain
to approach angrily or swiftly, as in attacking

come back

to return
â Informal to make a comeback

come between

to cause estrangement between; divide

come by

to get; acquire; gain
â to pay a visit

come down

to suffer loss in status, wealth, etc.

come down on

or come down upon

to scold; criticize harshly

come down with

to contract (a cold, flu, etc.)

come forward

to offer one's services; volunteer

come in

to enter
to arrive
to begin to be used; come into fashion
â to start producing, as an oil well
to finish in a competitive event he came in fifth
Golf
1. Radio to answer a call or signal
2. Radio, TV, etc. to be received

come in for

Informal to get or become eligible to get

come into

to enter into; join
to inherit

come of age

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!

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.
1. to bring the ship's head nearer the wind
2. 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

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» come definition

» come synonyms

» COME abbreviations & acronyms

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What does "come" mean?

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