Meaning of “come” in the English Dictionary

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"come" in English

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comeverb

uk ​ /kʌm/ us ​ /kʌm/ came, come

come verb (MOVE TO SPEAKER)

A1 [ I ] to move or travel towards the speaker or with the speaker:

Are you coming with me?
There's a car coming!
Can you come to my party?
Here comes Adam.
She's come 500 km (= has travelled 500 km) to be here with us tonight.
If you're ever in Dublin, come and visit us.
We came by car.
Your father will come for (= to collect) you at four o'clock.
Come forward a bit and stand on the line.
I've come straight from the airport.
The door opened and a nurse came into the room.
[ + to infinitive ] A man's coming to mend the boiler this afternoon.
As he came towards me, I could see he'd been crying.
He thought we'd been picking his apples and came after (= chased) us with a stick.
[ + -ing verb ] He came rushing over when I fell.

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come verb (MOVE TO LISTENER)

A1 [ I ] to move or travel in the direction of the person being spoken to:

"Sal, are you ready?" "Coming."
I'll come and pick you up in the car if you like.
I've come for (= come to get) your census form.
[ + to infinitive ] I've come to read the gas meter.

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come verb (ARRIVE)

A1 [ I ] to get to a particular place:

Has she come yet?
When does the post come?
Hasn't his train come in yet?

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come verb (LEAVE)

› [ I + adv/prep ] to leave a place:

I had to come away from the party early.
The police watched him come out of the house.

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come verb (DIFFERENT STATE)

C2 [ L ] to change or develop so as to be in a different position or condition:

Those pictures will have to come down (= be removed from the wall).
He pulled the knob and it just came off (in his hand).
How many times have you come off that horse?
Two of his teeth came out after he got hit in the face.
Can you get this cork to come out of the bottle?
When does the heating come on (= start working)?
[ + adj ] A wire has come loose at the back.
The door came open for no apparent reason.

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come verb (HAPPEN)

B2 [ I ] to happen:

Spring has come early.
The announcement came at a bad time.
Her resignation came as quite a shock.
informal Come Monday morning (= when it is Monday morning) you'll regret staying up all night.
I'm afraid those days are gone and they'll never come again.

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come verb (BE ORDERED)

come after, first, last, etc.

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  • Whose name comes first in the alphabet?
  • He came second in the 100 metres.
  • The Romans came before the Anglo-Saxons.
  • Who came first: Brahms or Beethoven?
  • She came first out of the whole class in maths.

B1 to have or achieve a particular position in a race, competition, list, etc.:

She came second (US came in second) in the 100 metres.
Z comes after Y in the alphabet.
Which king came after Edward?
April comes before May.
I know the first verse of the song, but I don't know what comes next.

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come verb (EXIST)

A2 [ I + adv/prep, not continuous ] to exist or be available:

Do these trousers come in any other colour?
Runners come in all shapes and sizes - fat and thin, short and tall.
This cuddly baby doll comes with her own blanket and bottle.
They're the best sunglasses you can buy, but they don't come cheap (= they are expensive).

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come to do sth

C2 to start to do something:

I've come to like her over the months.
It used to hold paper bags, but gradually came to be used for magazines.
How did that phrase come to mean (= develop so that it means) that?

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come verb (SEX)

› [ I ] to have an orgasm

Grammar

Come …
Come describing movementWe usually use come to talk about movement from the listener to the speaker or from the speaker to the listener. …
Come meaning ‘arrive’We can use come to mean ‘arrive’: …
Come or come to?When we talk about an event which happens because someone comes to a particular place, we use come and: …
Come or go?We use come to describe movement between the speaker and listener, and movement from another place to the place where the speaker or listener is. We usually use go to talk about movement from where the speaker or listener is to another place. …
Fixed expressions with andWe often use and in common fixed expressions. The order of the words cannot change: peace and quiet, pick and choose, come and go, knife and fork, black and white. …

Idiom(s)

as it comes
be as crazy, rich, etc. as they come
come again?
come and go
come down on sb like a ton of bricks
come from behind
come off it!
come out swinging/fighting
come the sth
come to pass
come to sb's attention/notice
come to that
come what may
the days/week(s)/year(s) to come
had it coming (to you)
have sth coming out of your ears
how come?
not know whether you are coming or going

Phrasal verb(s)

come about
come across
come across sth
come along
come apart
come around
come at sb
come away
come back
come back to sb
come before sth/sb
come between sb
come between sth
come by sth
come by (somewhere)
come down
come down on sb/sth
come down to sth
come down with sth
come forward
come from somewhere/sth
come from sth
come in
come in for sth
come into sth
come of sth
come off
come off sth
come on
come on/along
come out
come out in sth
come out of sth
come out with sth
come over
come over sb
come round
come through
come through (sth)
come to
come to sb
come to sth
come under sth
come up
come up against sth
come up to sth
come up with sth
come upon sb/sth

comenoun [ U ]

uk ​ /kʌm/ us ​ /kʌm/ slang

(Definition of “come” from the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

"come" in American English

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comeverb

us ​ /kʌm/ past tense came /keɪm/ , past participle come

come verb (APPROACH)

› [ I ] to move or travel toward the speaker or with the speaker:

Will you come here, please?
Did you come here by car?
Come on in! The water’s great.
Are you coming over to my house tonight?
Is he coming to the movies with us?
The man is coming to fix the dryer this afternoon.
He came rushing over when I fell.

come verb (MOVE TO LISTENER)

› [ I ] to move or travel in the direction of the person being spoken to:

I thought I’d come and see your new house.
I’ve come to read the gas meter.

come verb (ARRIVE)

› [ I ] to get to a particular place:

Has the mail come yet?
Spring came early this year – look at all the flowers!

› [ I ] When something comes in it is received:

Reports are just coming in of the fire.

come verb (BE FROM)

› [ I always + adv/prep ] to be or start from a particular place:

She comes from Italy.
Does that quotation come from Shakespeare?

come verb (EXIST)

› [ I always + adv/prep ] to exist or be available:

The dress comes in three sizes – small, medium, and large.
This cuddly doll comes with her own blanket and bottle.

come verb (HAPPEN)

› [ I ] to happen:

Your birthday only comes around once a year.
[ + to infinitive ] How did you two come to be friends?
The earthquake's aftereffects came without warning.

come verb (ORDER)

› [ I always + adv/prep ] to be in a particular relation to others in an order:

April comes before May.
In your cookbook you’ll see that pies come under the heading "Desserts."

› [ I always + adv/prep ] If something comes under an official organization, that organization is responsible for it:

Snow removal comes under the highway department.

come verb (CHANGE)

› to change or be in a different position or condition:

[ I always + adv/prep ] The stitching on my briefcase is coming apart.
[ L ] A wire had come loose at the back.
[ I always + adv/prep ] He pulled the knob and it came off in his hand.
[ + to infinitive ] I couldn’t stand him at first, but I’ve come to like him.
coming
adjective us ​ /ˈkʌm·ɪŋ/

›

We look forward to even greater success in the coming year.

Idiom(s)

come before
come forward
come in handy
come of age
come off it
come on strong
come out of your shell
come to a head
come to an end
come to light
come to rest
come to someone's rescue
come to your senses
come to terms with something
come true
something comes to your attention
have come a long way

Phrasal verb(s)

come across
come across something/someone
come along
come apart
come apart
come around
come around
come at someone
come away (with something)
come back
come back
come between someone
come by something
come down
come down on someone
come down to something
come down with something
come in
come in for something
come into something
come off
come off
come off something
come on
come on
come on
come on something
come out
come out
come out
come out
come out
come out with something
come over
come over someone
come through
come through something
come to
come to something
come together
come under something
come under something
come up
come up
come up with something
come upon someone/something

(Definition of “come” from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

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