come

  • verb (past came; past part. come) 1 move, travel, or reach towards or into a place thought of as near or familiar to the speaker. 2 arrive. 3 happen; take place. 4 occupy or achieve a specified position in space, order, or priority: she came second. 5 pass into a specified state or reach a certain condition or state of mind: his shirt came undone. 6 be sold or available in a specified form. 7 (also come, come) said to correct, reassure, or urge on someone. 8 (coming) likely to be important or successful in the future: a coming man. 9 informal have an orgasm.

  • preposition informal when a specified time is reached or event happens.

  • noun informal semen ejaculated at an orgasm.

  — PHRASES come about 1 happen; take place. 2 (of a ship) change direction. come across 1 (also chiefly Brit. come over) give a specified impression. 2 meet or find by chance. 3 informal hand over what is wanted. come back chiefly N. Amer. reply or respond, especially vigorously. come by manage to acquire or obtain. come down on 1 criticize or punish harshly. 2 reach a decision in favour of one side or another. come down to be dependent on (a factor). come forward volunteer for a task or to give evidence. come from originate in. come in prove to be: it came in handy. come in for receive (a negative reaction). come into inherit (money or property). come of 1 result from. 2 be descended from. come off 1 succeed; be accomplished. 2 fare in a specified way. come off it informal said when vigorously expressing disbelief. come on 1 (of a state or condition) start to arrive or happen. 2 (also come upon) meet or find by chance. 3 said to encourage or correct someone or hurry them up. come on to informal make sexual advances towards. come out 1 (of a fact) become known. 2 declare oneself as being for or against something. 3 acquit oneself or fare in a specified way. 4 (of a photograph) be produced satisfactorily or in a specified way. 5 (of the result of a calculation or measurement) emerge at a specified figure. 6 informal openly declare that one is homosexual. 7 Brit. dated (of a young upper-class woman) make one’s debut in society. come out with say in a sudden, rude, or incautious way. come over 1 (of a feeling) begin to affect. 2 Brit. informal suddenly start to feel a specified way. come round chiefly Brit. (chiefly US also come around) 1 recover consciousness. 2 be converted to another person’s opinion. 3 (of a date or regular occurrence) be imminent again. come to 1 recover consciousness. 2 (of an expense) amount to. 3 (of a ship) come to a stop. come to pass chiefly literary happen. come up 1 (of a situation or problem) occur or present itself. 2 (of a time or event) approach or draw near. come up with produce (something), especially when pressured or challenged. come upon 1 attack by surprise. 2 see come on (sense 2). come what may no matter what happens. have it coming (to one) informal be due for retribution.

  — ORIGIN Old English.