- 1 [intransitive] to move to or toward a person or place (+ adv./prep.) He came into the room and shut the door. 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 with us 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 someone what to do:When did she last come and see you?Come and have your dinner.The and is sometimes left out:Come have your dinner.
- 2
[intransitive] come (to…) to arrive at or reach a place They continued until they came to a river. What time did you come (= to my house)? Spring came late this year. Your breakfast is coming soon. Have any letters come for me? Help came at last. The CD comes complete with all the words of the songs. The time has come (= now is the moment) to act.
- 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.
- 4 [intransitive] to move or travel, especially with someone 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 something) (with somebody) Are you coming to the club with us tonight? come doing something Why don't you come skating tonight? running/hurrying etc.
- 5 [intransitive] come doing something (+ adv.prep.) to move in a particular way or while doing something else The children came running into the room. travel
- 6 [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. happen
- 7
[intransitive] to happen The agreement came after several hours of negotiations. The rains came too late to do any good. The high point of the concert came during the drum solo. come as something Her death came as a terrible shock to us. His resignation came as no surprise.
- 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? 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. 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 2006. When will they come to a decision? 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. + adj. (informal) New cars don't come cheap (= they are expensive).
- 12
[intransitive, transitive] to become + adj. The buttons had come undone. The handle came loose. come to do something This design came to be known as the Oriental style.
- 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 behavior from him. time
- 14 come [transitive] come something (old-fashioned) (informal) when the time mentioned comes They would have been married forty years come this June. Come next week she'll have changed her mind. sex
- 15 [intransitive] (slang) to have an orgasm Idioms
- 1to arrive and leave; to move freely They had a party next door—we heard people coming and going all night.
- 2to be present for a short time and then go away The pain in my leg comes and goes.
verb jump to other results
NAmE//kʌm//
Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they come he / she / it comes
past simple came
past participle come
-ing form coming
to be very handsome, stupid, etc.
used to ask someone to repeat something “She's an entomologist.” “Come again?” “An entomologist—she studies insects.”
(of an activity, a skill, etc.) to be easy, natural, etc. for someone to do Acting comes naturally to her.
someone hears about something, especially when other people already know about it News of his affair eventually reached her ears.
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.
used to introduce something extra that is connected with what has just been said I don't really trust him—nor his wife, come to that.
despite any problems or difficulties you may have He promised to support her come what may.
used to say you do not understand how something can happen and would like an explanation If she spent five years in Paris, how come her French is so bad?
to not be important or successful
(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 is a question of something When it comes to getting things done, he's useless.
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). Phrasal Verbscome aboutcome acrosscome aftercome alongcome apartcome aroundcome atcome awaycome away withcome backcome back tocome beforecome between andcome bycome downcome down oncome down tocome down withcome forwardcome fromcome fromcome income in forcome intocome ofcome offcome off itcome oncome on tocome outcome out ofcome out withcome overcome throughcome tocome togethercome undercome upcome up againstcome up forcome up fromcome up tocome up withcome upon
Check pronunciation: come