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Definition of come verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

come

verb
 
 
/kʌm/
 
/kʌm/
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they come
 
/kʌm/
 
/kʌm/
he / she / it comes
 
/kʌmz/
 
/kʌmz/
past simple came
 
/keɪm/
 
/keɪm/
past participle come
 
/kʌm/
 
/kʌm/
-ing form coming
 
/ˈkʌmɪŋ/
 
/ˈkʌmɪŋ/
Idioms Phrasal Verbs
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    to a place

  1.  
     [intransitive] to move to or towards a person or place
    • + adv./prep. He left and said he was never coming back.
    • He came into the room and shut the door.
    • She comes to work by bus.
    • My son is coming home soon.
    • Come here!
    • Come and see us soon!
    • Here comes Jo! (= Jo is coming)
    • There's a storm coming.
    • come to do something They're coming to stay for a week.
    In spoken English come can be used with and plus another verb, instead of with to and the infinitive, to show purpose or to tell somebody what to do: When did she last come and see you? • Come and have your dinner. The and is sometimes left out, especially in North American English: Come have your dinner.
    Extra Examples
    • He came towards me.
    • I hope you can come to Australia to visit us.
    • It's looks as if there's a storm coming.
    • When is your son coming home?
  2.  
     [intransitive] to arrive at or reach a place
    • come to… They continued until they came to a river.
    • She came to work wearing a very smart suit.
    • They came as far as the gate.
    • People came from all over the country.
    • Your breakfast is coming soon.
    • Have any letters come for me?
    • Help came at last.
    Extra Examples
    • What time did you come (= to my house)?
    • People came from all over the world to settle here.
    • Let me know if any more mail comes.
    • He came to England by ship.
    • If you come late, the doctor may not be able to see you.
  3.  
     [intransitive] to arrive somewhere in order to do something or get something
    • come for something I've come for my book.
    • come about something I've come about my book.
    • come to do something I've come to get my book.
    • come doing something He came looking for me.
    Extra Examples
    • I've come for those books you promised me.
    • I've come to see Mrs Cooper.
  4.  
     [intransitive] to move or travel, especially with somebody else, to a particular place or in order to be present at an event
    • I've only come for an hour.
    • Thanks for coming (= to my house, party, etc.).
    • come to do something Ten thousand people came to hear him speak.
    • come to something Are you coming to the lecture?
    • come to something with somebody Are you coming to the club with us tonight?
    • come with somebody Come with me—I've got something to show you.
    • come doing something Why don't you come skating tonight?
    Extra Examples
    • Please come to my party on September 10th.
    • Are you coming to the theatre with us this evening?
    • I'm sorry, I won't be able to come.
    • Despite all the publicity, not many people came.
    • If you can't come to the meeting, let us know in advance.
    5.

    travel

  5.  
     [intransitive] + noun to travel a particular distance
    • We've come 50 miles this morning.
    • (figurative) The company has come a long way (= made lot of progress) in the last 5 years.
    Extra Examples
    • He's come all the way from Tokyo.
    • We've come a long way and we're very tired.
    • How far have you come?
    6.

    running/hurrying etc.

  6.  
     [intransitive] to move in a particular way or while doing something else
    • come doing something + adv./prep. A car came flying round the corner.
    • A huge wave came crashing over the sea wall.
    • (figurative) Questions came rushing into her head.
    • come doing something Don't expect me to come running every time you call.
    Extra Examples
    • The children came running into the room.
    • A crowd of men on horses carrying spears came charging down the road.
    7.

    happen

  7.  
     [intransitive] to happen
    • The agreement came after several hours of negotiations.
    • The rains came too late to do any good.
    • Spring came late this year.
    • The time has come (= now is the moment) to act.
    • His first goal came in the 81st minute.
    • come as something His resignation came as no surprise.
    • Her death came as a terrible shock to us.
    • More details of the event are coming soon.
    Extra Examples
    • Dusk came quickly.
    • I never thought the day would come when I'd feel sorry for him.
    • The deadline came and went, but there was no reply from them.
    • Business improved as Christmas came nearer.
    • At last, the time came to leave.
    • When the moment actually came, I began to feel a little nervous.
    • He wanted to be buried beside her when the time came.
    • The time had come to let a younger person lead the party.
    • The high point of the concert came during the drum solo.
  8. [transitive] come to do something used in questions to talk about how or why something happened
    • How did he come to break his leg?
    • How do you come to be so late?
    9.

    to a position/state

  9.  
     [intransitive] + adv./prep. (not used in the progressive tenses) to have a particular position
    • That comes a long way down my list of priorities.
    • She came second (= received the second highest score) in the exam.
    • His family comes first (= is the most important thing in his life).
  10.  
     [intransitive] come to/into something used in many expressions to show that something has reached a particular state
    • At last winter came to an end.
    • He came to power in 2019.
    • We need to come to an agreement on this issue.
    • When will they come to a decision?
    • our understanding of how the universe came into existence
    • The trees are coming into leaf.
  11.  
     [intransitive] (not used in the progressive tenses) (of goods, products, etc.) to be available or to exist in a particular way
    • come in something This dress comes in black and red.
    • come with something The new edition of the game comes with a whole range of upgrades.
    • + adj. (informal) New cars don't come cheap (= they are expensive).
    • This luxury villa comes complete with its own private swimming pool.
  12.  
     [intransitive, transitive] to become
    • + adj. The handle came loose.
    • The buttons had come undone.
    • Everything will come right in the end.
    • come to do something the Nigerian film industry, which came to be known as Nollywood
  13. [transitive] come to do something to reach a point where you realize, understand or believe something
    • In time she came to love him.
    • She had come to see the problem in a new light.
    • I've come to expect this kind of behaviour from him.
    14.

    sex

  14. [intransitive] (informal) to have an orgasm
    15. Word OriginOld English cuman, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch komen and German kommen.
Idioms Most idioms containing come are at the entries for the nouns or adjectives in the idioms, for example come a cropper is at cropper. 
be as clever, stupid, etc. as they come
  1. (informal) to be very clever, stupid, etc.
come the… (informal)
  1. to play the part of a particular type of person; to behave in a particular way
    • Don't come the innocent with me.
come again?
  1. (informal) used to ask somebody to repeat something
    • ‘She's an entomologist.’ ‘Come again?’ ‘An entomologist—she studies insects.’
come and go
  1. to arrive and leave; to move freely
    • They had a party next door—we heard people coming and going all night.
  2. to be present for a short time and then go away
    • The pain in my leg comes and goes.
come easily, naturally, etc. to somebody
  1. (of an activity, a skill, etc.) to be easy, natural, etc. for somebody to do
    • Acting comes naturally to her.
come to nothing | not come to anything
  1. to be unsuccessful; to have no successful result
    • How sad that all his hard work should come to nothing.
    • Her plans didn't come to anything.
    Topics Difficulty and failurec2
come to that | if it comes to that
  1. (informal, especially British English) used to introduce something extra that is connected with what has just been said
    • I don't really trust him—or his wife, come to that.
come what may
  1. despite any problems or difficulties you may have
    • He promised to support her come what may.
how come (…)? (informal)
  1. used to say you do not understand how something can happen and would like an explanation
    • ‘I think you owe me some money.’ ‘How come?’
    • If she spent five years in Paris, how come her French is so bad?
not come to much
  1. to not be important or successfulTopics Difficulty and failurec2
to come
  1. (used after a noun) in the future
    • They may well regret the decision in years to come.
    • This will be a problem for some time to come (= for a period of time in the future).
when it comes to (doing) something
 
  1. when it is a question of something
    • When it comes to getting things done, he's useless.
where somebody is coming from
  1. (informal) somebody’s ideas, beliefs, personality, etc. that makes them say what they have said
    • I see where you're coming from (= I understand what you mean).
See come in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee come in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
Check pronunciation: come

Nearby words

dizzy
adjective
 
 
From the Topic
Health problems
C1
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