Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

Come

Come

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp.
Came
;
p. p.
Come
;
p. pr & vb. n.
Coming
.]
[OE.
cumen
,
comen
, AS.
cuman
; akin to OS.
kuman
, D.
komen
, OHG.
queman
, G.
kommen
, Icel.
koma
, Sw.
komma
, Dan.
komme
, Goth.
giman
, L.
venire
(
gvenire
), Gr. [GREEK] to go, Skr.
gam
. √23. Cf.
Base
,
Noun.
,
Convene
,
Adventure
.]
1.
To move hitherward; to draw near; to approach the speaker, or some place or person indicated; – opposed to go.
Look, who
comes
yonder?
Shakespeare
I did not
come
to curse thee.
Tennyson.
2.
To complete a movement toward a place; to arrive.
When we
came
to Rome.
Acts xxviii. 16.
Lately
come
from Italy.
Acts xviii. 2.
3.
To approach or arrive, as if by a journey or from a distance.
“Thy kingdom come.”
Matt. vi. 10.
The hour is
coming
, and now is.
John. v. 25.
So quick bright things
come
to confusion.
Shakespeare
4.
To approach or arrive, as the result of a cause, or of the act of another.
From whence
come
wars?
James iv. 1.
Both riches and honor
come
of thee !
1 Chron. xxix. 12.
5.
To arrive in sight; to be manifest; to appear.
Then butter does refuse to
come
.
Hudibras.
6.
To get to be, as the result of change or progress; – with a predicate;
as, to
come
untied
.
How
come
you thus estranged?
Shakespeare
How
come
her eyes so bright?
Shakespeare
☞ Am come, is come, etc., are frequently used instead of have come, has come, etc., esp. in poetry. The verb to be gives a clearer adjectival significance to the participle as expressing a state or condition of the subject, while the auxiliary have expresses simply the completion of the action signified by the verb.
Think not that I
am come
to destroy.
Matt. v. 17.
We
are come
off like Romans.
Shakespeare
The melancholy days
are come
, the saddest of the year.
Bryant.
Come may properly be used (instead of go) in speaking of a movement hence, or away, when there is reference to an approach to the person addressed; as, I shall come home next week; he will come to your house to-day. It is used with other verbs almost as an auxiliary, indicative of approach to the action or state expressed by the verb; as, how came you to do it? Come is used colloquially, with reference to a definite future time approaching, without an auxiliary; as, it will be two years, come next Christmas; i. e., when Christmas shall come.
Come, in the imperative, is used to excite attention, or to invite to motion or joint action; come, let us go. “This is the heir; come, let us kill him.”
Matt. xxi. 38.
When repeated, it sometimes expresses haste, or impatience, and sometimes rebuke. “Come, come, no time for lamentation now.”
Milton.
To come
,
yet to arrive, future.
“In times to come.”
Dryden.
“There’s pippins and cheese to come.”
Shak.
–
To come about
.
(a)
To come to pass; to arrive; to happen; to result; as, how did these things come about?
(b)
To change; to come round; as, the ship comes about.
“The wind is come about.”
Shak.

–
To come abroad
.
(a)
To move or be away from one's home or country.
“Am come abroad to see the world.”
Shak.
(b)
To become public or known.
[Obs.]
“Neither was anything kept secret, but that it should come abroad.”
Mark. iv. 22.
–
To come across
,
to meet; to find, esp. by chance or suddenly.
“We come across more than one incidental mention of those wars.”
E. A. Freeman.
“Wagner's was certainly one of the strongest and most independent natures I ever came across.”
H. R. Haweis.
–
To come after
.
(a)
To follow.
(b)
To come to take or to obtain;
as, to
come after
a book.
–
To come again
,
to return
. “His spirit came again and he revived.”
Judges. xv. 19.
- -
To come and go
.
(a)
To appear and disappear; to change; to alternate.
“The color of the king doth come and go.”
Shak.
(b)
(Mech.)
To play backward and forward.
–
To come at
.
(a)
To reach; to arrive within reach of; to gain;
as, to
come at
a true knowledge of ourselves.
(b)
To come toward; to attack;
as, he
came at
me with fury.
–
To come away
,
to part or depart
. –
To come between
,
to intervene; to separate; hence, to cause estrangement
. –
To come by
.
(a)
To obtain, gain, acquire.
“Examine how you came by all your state.”
Dryden.
(b)
To pass near or by way of.
–
To come down
.
(a)
To descend.
(b)
To be humbled.
–
To come down upon
,
to call to account, to reprimand.
[Colloq.]
Dickens.
–
To come home
.
(a)
To return to one's house or family.
(b)
To come close; to press closely; to touch the feelings, interest, or reason.
(c)
(Naut.)
To be loosened from the ground; – said of an anchor.
–
To come in
.
(a)
To enter, as a town, house, etc.
“The thief cometh in.”
Hos. vii. 1.
(b)
To arrive;
as, when my ship
comes in
.
(c)
To assume official station or duties;
as, when Lincoln
came in
.
(d)
To comply; to yield; to surrender.
“We need not fear his coming in”
Massinger.
(e)
To be brought into use.
“Silken garments did not come in till late.”
Arbuthnot.
(f)
To be added or inserted; to be or become a part of.
(g)
To accrue as gain from any business or investment.
(h)
To mature and yield a harvest;
as, the crops
come in
well
.
(i)
To have sexual intercourse; – with to or unto.
Gen. xxxviii. 16.
(j)
To have young; to bring forth;
as, the cow will
come in
next May
.
[U. S.]
–
To come in for
,
to claim or receive.
“The rest came in for subsidies.”
Swift.
–
To come into
,
to join with; to take part in; to agree to; to comply with;
as, to
come into
a party or scheme
. –
To come it over
,
to hoodwink; to get the advantage of.
[Colloq.]
–
To come near
or
To come nigh
,
to approach in place or quality; to be equal to.
“Nothing ancient or modern seems to come near it.”
Sir W. Temple.
–
To come of
.
(a)
To descend or spring from.
“Of Priam's royal race my mother came.”
Dryden.
(b)
To result or follow from.
“This comes of judging by the eye.”
L'Estrange.
–
To come off
.
(a)
To depart or pass off from.
(b)
To get free; to get away; to escape.
(c)
To be carried through; to pass off;
as, it
came off
well.
(d)
To acquit one's self; to issue from (a contest, etc.);
as, he
came off
with honor;
hence, substantively, a come-off, an escape; an excuse; an evasion.
[Colloq.]
(e)
To pay over; to give.
[Obs.]
(f)
To take place; to happen;
as, when does the race
come off
?
(g)
To be or become after some delay;
as, the weather
came off
very fine
.
(h)
To slip off or be taken off, as a garment; to separate.
(i)
To hurry away; to get through.
Chaucer.
–
To come off by
,
to suffer
.
[Obs.]
“To come off by the worst.”
Calamy.
–
To come off from
,
to leave.
“To come off from these grave disquisitions.”
Felton.
–
To come on
.
(a)
To advance; to make progress; to thrive.
(b)
To move forward; to approach; to supervene.
–
To come out
.
(a)
To pass out or depart, as from a country, room, company, etc.
“They shall come out with great substance.”
Gen. xv. 14.
(b)
To become public; to appear; to be published.
“It is indeed come out at last.”
Bp. Stillingfleet.
(c)
To end; to result; to turn out;
as, how will this affair
come out
? he has
come out
well at last
.
(d)
To be introduced into society;
as, she
came out
two seasons ago
.
(e)
To appear; to show itself;
as, the sun
came out
.
(f)
To take sides; to announce a position publicly;
as, he
came out
against the tariff.
(g)
To publicly admit oneself to be homosexual.
–
To come out with
,
to give publicity to; to disclose.
–
To come over
.
(a)
To pass from one side or place to another.
“Perpetually teasing their friends to come over to them.”
Addison.
(b)
To rise and pass over, in distillation.
–
To come over to
,
to join.
–
To come round
.
(a)
To recur in regular course.
(b)
To recover.
[Colloq.]
(c)
To change, as the wind.
(d)
To relent.
J. H. Newman.
(e)
To circumvent; to wheedle.
[Colloq.]
–
To come short
,
to be deficient; to fail of attaining.
“All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
Rom. iii. 23.
–
To come to
.
(a)
To consent or yield.
Swift.
(b)
(Naut.)
(with the accent on to)
To luff; to bring the ship's head nearer the wind; to anchor.
(c)
(with the accent on to)
To recover, as from a swoon.
(d)
To arrive at; to reach.
(e)
To amount to;
as, the taxes
come to
a large sum
.
(f)
To fall to; to be received by, as an inheritance.
Shak.
–
To come to blows
.
See under
Blow
.
–
To come to grief
.
See under
Grief
.
–
To come to a head
.
(a)
To suppurate, as a boil.
(b)
To mature; to culminate; as a plot.
–
To come to one's self
,
to recover one's senses.
–
To come to pass
,
to happen; to fall out.
–
To come to the scratch
.
(a)
(Prize Fighting)
To step up to the scratch or mark made in the ring to be toed by the combatants in beginning a contest;
hence:
(b)
To meet an antagonist or a difficulty bravely.
[Colloq.]
–
To come to time
.
(a)
(Prize Fighting)
To come forward in order to resume the contest when the interval allowed for rest is over and “time” is called
; hence:
(b)
To keep an appointment; to meet expectations.
[Colloq.]
–
To come together
.
(a)
To meet for business, worship, etc.; to assemble.
Acts i. 6.
(b)
To live together as man and wife.
Matt. i. 18.
–
To come true
,
to happen as predicted or expected.
–
To come under
,
to belong to, as an individual to a class.
–
To come up
(a)
to ascend; to rise.
(b)
To be brought up; to arise, as a question.
(c)
To spring; to shoot or rise above the earth, as a plant.
(d)
To come into use, as a fashion.
–
To come up the capstan
(Naut.)
,
to turn it the contrary way, so as to slacken the rope about it.
–
To come up the tackle fall
(Naut.)
,
to slacken the tackle gently.
Totten.
–
To come up to
,
to rise to; to equal.
–
To come up with
,
to overtake or reach by pursuit.
–
To come upon
.
(a)
To befall.
(b)
To attack or invade.
(c)
To have a claim upon; to become dependent upon for support;
as,
to come upon
the town
.
(d)
To light or chance upon; to find;
as, to
come upon
hid treasure
.

Come

,
Verb.
T.
To carry through; to succeed in;
as, you can't
come
any tricks here
.
[Slang]
To come it
,
to succeed in a trick of any sort.
[Slang]

Come

,
Noun.
Coming.
[Obs.]
Chaucer.

Webster 1828 Edition

Come

COME

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To move towards; to advance near, in any manner, and from any distance. We say, the men come this way, whether riding or on foot; the wind comes from the west; the ship comes with a fine breeze; light comes from the sun. It is applicable perhaps to every thing susceptible of motion, and is opposed to go.
2.
To draw nigh; to approach; to arrive; to be present
Come thou and all thy house into the ark. Gen. 7.
All my time will I wait, till my change come. Job 14.
When shall I come and appear before God? Ps. 42.
Then shall the end come. Matt. 24.
Thy kingdom come; thy will be done. Matt. 6.
The time has come.
3.
To advance and arrive at some state or condition; as, the ships came to action; the players came to blows; is it come to this?
His sons come to honor and he knoweth it not. Job 14.
I wonder how he came to know what had been done; how did he come by his knowledge? the heir comes into possession of his estate; the man will come in time to abhor the vices of his youth, or he will come to be poor and despicable, or to poverty.
In these and similar phrases, we observe the process or advance is applied to the body or to the mind, indifferently; and to persons or events.
4.
To happen or fall out; as, how comes that? Let come what will. Hence when followed by an object or person, with to or on, to befall; to light on.
After all that has come on us for our evil deeds. Ezra 9.
All things come alike to all. Eccles. 9.
5.
To advance or move into view; to appear; as, blood or color comes and goes in the face.
6.
To sprout, as plants; to spring. The corn comes or comes up. In the coming or sprouting of malt, as it must not come too little, so it must not come too much. So Bacon uses the word; and this use of it coincides nearly with the sense of 2 Kings 19:26 and in the same chapter inserted in Isaiah 34:27. It is the G. Kiemen, Icelandic kiema, to bud, or germinate.
7.
To become.
So came I a widow.
8.
To appear or be formed, as butter; to advance or change from cream to butter; a common use of the word; as, the butter comes.
9.
Come, in the imperative, is used to excite attention, or to invite to motion or joint action; come, let us go.
This is the heir; come, let us kill him.
When repeated, it sometimes expresses haste; come, come. Sometimes if expresses or introduces rebuke.
As the sense of come is to move, in almost any manner, in its various applications, that sense is modified indefinitely by other words used in connection with it. Thus with words expressing approach, it denotes advancing nearer; with words expressing departure, as from, of, out of, &c., it denotes motion from, &c.
To come about, to happen; to fall out; to come to pass; to arrive. How did these tings come about? So the French venir a bout, to come to the end, that is, to arrive.
To come about, to turn; to change; to come round. The wind will come about from west to east. The ship comes about. It is applied to a change of sentiments.
On better thoughts, and my urged reasons,
They are come about, and won to the true side.
To come again, to return. Gen. 28., Lev. 14.
To come after, to follow. Matt. 24. Also to come to obtain; as, to come after a book.
To come at, to reach; to arrive within reach of; to gain; to come so near as to be able to take or possess. We prize those most who are hardest to come at. To come at a true knowledge of ourselves.
Also, to come towards, as in attacking.
To come away, to depart from; to leave; to issue from.
To come back, to return.
To come by, to pass near; a popular phrase. Also, to obtain, gain, acquire; that is, to come near, at or close. Examine how you came by all your state.
This is not an irregular or improper use of this word. It is precisely equivalent to possess, to sit by. [See Possess.]
To come down, to descend.
The Lord will come down on mount Sinai. Ex 19.
Also, to be humbled or abased.
Your principalities shall come down. Jer. 13.
Come down from thy glory. Jer. 48.
To come for, to come to get or obtain; to come after.
To come forth, to issue or proceed from. Gen. 15., Is. 11., Micah 5.
Also, to depart from; to leave. Mark 9.
Also, to come abroad. Jer. 4.
To come from, to depart from to leave. In popular language, this phrase is equivalent to, where is his native place or former place of residence; where did this man, this animal or this plant originate.
To come home, that is, to come to home, or the house; to arrive at the dwelling. Hence, to come close; to press closely; to touch the feelings, interest, or reason.
Come is an intransitive verb, but the participle come is much used with the substantive verb, in the passive form. The end of all flesh is come. I am come, thou art come, he is come, we are come, &c. This use of the substantive verb, for have, is perhaps too well established to be rejected; but have or has should be used in such phrases. In the phrase, come Friday, come Candlemas, there is an ellipsis of certain words, as when Friday shall come.
Come, come, the repetition of come, expresses haste, or exhortation to hasten. Sometimes it introduces a threat.

COME

,
Noun.
A sprout.

Definition 2024

come

come

See also: comé, comê, Côme, and com'è

English

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /kʌm/, [kʰɐm], enPR: kŭm
  • (US) IPA(key): /kʌm/, [kʰʌm], enPR: kŭm
  • Rhymes: -ʌm
  • Homophone: cum

Verb

come ‎(third-person singular simple present comes, present participle coming, simple past came, past participle come or (rare) comen)

  1. (intransitive) To move from further away to nearer to.
    She’ll be coming ’round the mountain when she comes […] ‎
    1. To move towards the speaker.
      I called the dog, but she wouldn't come.‎
      Stop dawdling and come here!‎
    2. To move towards the listener.
      Hold on, I'll come in a second.‎
      You should ask the doctor to come to your house.‎
    3. To move towards the object that is the focus of the sentence.
      No-one can find Bertie Wooster when his aunts come to visit.‎
      Hundreds of thousands of people come to Disneyland every year.‎
    4. (in subordinate clauses and gerunds) To move towards the agent or subject of the main clause.
      King Cnut couldn't stop the tide coming.‎
      He threw the boomerang, which came right back to him.‎
    5. To move towards an unstated agent.
      The butler should come when called.‎
  2. (intransitive) To arrive.
    The guests came at eight o'clock.‎
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 5, in The Celebrity:
      Then came a maid with hand-bag and shawls, and after her a tall young lady. She stood for a moment holding her skirt above the grimy steps, […] , and the light of the reflector fell full upon her.
  3. (intransitive) To appear, to manifest itself.
    The pain in his leg comes and goes.‎
  4. (intransitive) To take a position to something else in a sequence.
    Which letter comes before Y?   Winter comes after autumn.‎
  5. (intransitive, slang) To achieve orgasm; to cum; to ejaculate.
    • 2004, Alan Hollinghurst, The Line of Beauty, Bloomsbury, 2005, Chapter 2:
      Nick was more and more seriously absorbed, but then just before he came he had a brief vision of himself, as if the trees and bushes had rolled away and all the lights of London shone in on him: little Nick Guest from Barwick, Don and Dot Guest's boy, **** a stranger in a Notting Hill garden at night.
    He came after a few minutes.‎
  6. (copulative, figuratively, with close) To approach a state of being or accomplishment.
    They came very close to leaving on time.   His test scores came close to perfect.‎
    One of the screws came loose, and the skateboard fell apart.‎
    • 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 3, in The Celebrity:
      Now all this was very fine, but not at all in keeping with the Celebrity's character as I had come to conceive it. The idea that adulation ever cloyed on him was ludicrous in itself. In fact I thought the whole story fishy, and came very near to saying so.
  7. (figuratively, with to) To take a particular approach or point of view in regard to something.
    He came to SF literature a confirmed technophile, and nothing made him happier than to read a manuscript thick with imaginary gizmos and whatzits.‎
  8. (copulative, archaic) To become, to turn out to be.
    He was a dream come true.‎
  9. (intransitive) To be supplied, or made available; to exist.
    He's as tough as they come.   Our milkshakes come in vanilla, strawberry and chocolate flavours.‎
  10. (slang) To carry through; to succeed in.
    You can't come any tricks here.‎
  11. (intransitive) Happen.
    This kind of accident comes when you are careless.‎
    • 2014 June 14, “It's a gas”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8891:
      But out of sight is out of mind. And that […] means that many old sewers have been neglected and are in dire need of repair. If that repair does not come in time, the result is noxious and potentially hazardous.
  12. (intransitive, with from or sometimes of) To have a social background.
    • 2011, Kate Gramich, Kate Roberts, University of Wales Press, ISBN 9780708323380, chapter 3, 46:
      While Kate Roberts came from a poor background and, later in life, in the post-Second World War period suffered from severe money shortages, in the early 1930s, she and her husband must have counted themselves relatively well off, particularly in comparison with their neighbours in Tonypandy.
    1. To be or have been a resident or native.
      Where did you come from?‎
    2. To have been brought up by or employed by.
      She comes from a good family.‎
      He comes from a disreputable legal firm.‎
  13. (intransitive, of grain) To germinate.
Usage notes

In its general sense, come specifically marks motion towards the deictic centre (whether explicitly stated or not). Its counterpart, usually referring to motion away from or not involving the deictic centre, is go. For example, the sentence "Come to the tree" implies contextually that the speaker is already at the tree - "Go to the tree" often implies that the speaker is elsewhere. Either the speaker or the listener can be the deictic centre - the sentences "I will go to you" and "I will come to you" are both valid, depending on the exact nuances of the context. When there is no clear speaker or listener, the deictic centre is usually the focus of the sentence or the topic of the piece of writing. "Millions of people came to America from Europe" would be used in an article about America, but "Millions of people went to America from Europe" would be used in an article about Europe.

When used with adverbs of location, come is usually paired with here or hither. In interrogatives, come usually indicates a question about source - "Where are you coming from?" - while go indicates a question about destination - "Where are you going?" or "Where are you going to?"

A few old texts use comen as the past participle. Also, in some dialects, like rural Scots and rural Midlands dialects, the form comen is still occasionally in use, so phrases like the following can still be encountered thereː Sa thoo bist comen heyr to nim min 'orse frae mee, then? [sä ðuː bɪst cʊmn̩ hiər tə nɪm miːn ɔːrs frə miː, d̪ɛn] (so you have come here to steal my horse from me, then).

In antiquated texts, the verb be was sometimes used as the auxiliary instead of have, for example, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

The phrase "dream come true" is a set phrase; the verb "come" in the sense "become" is archaic outside of some set phrases like "come about", "come loose", "come true" and "come undone".

The collocations “come with” and “come along” mean accompany, used as “Do you want to come with me?” and “Do you want to come along?” In the Midwestern American dialect, “come with” can occur without a following object, as in “Do you want to come with?” In this dialect, “with” can also be used in this way with some other verbs, such as “take with”. Examples of this may be found in plays by Chicagoan David Mamet, such as American Buffalo.[1] This objectless use is not permissible in other dialects.

The meaning of to ejaculate is considered rude slang. Many style guides and editors recommend the spelling come for verb uses while strictly allowing the spelling cum for the noun. Both spellings are sometimes found in either the noun or verb sense, however. Others prefer to distinguish in formality, using come for any formal usage and cum only in slang, erotic or pornographic contexts.[2]

Antonyms
Derived terms
Translations
See also

Noun

come ‎(uncountable)

  1. (obsolete) Coming, arrival; approach.
    • 1869, RD Blackmoore, Lorna Doone, II:
      “If we count three before the come of thee, thwacked thou art, and must go to the women.”
  2. (slang) Semen
  3. (slang) Female ejaculatory discharge.
Usage notes

The meaning of semen or female ejaculatory discharge is considered rude slang. Many style guides and editors recommend the spelling come for verb uses while strictly allowing the spelling cum for the noun. Both spellings are sometimes found in either the noun or verb sense, however. Others prefer to distinguish in formality, using come for any formal usage and cum only in slang, erotic or pornographic contexts.[3]

Derived terms

Preposition

come

  1. Used to indicate an event, period, or change in state occurring after a present time.
    Leave it to settle for about three months and, come Christmas time, you'll have a delicious concoctions to offer your guests.
    Come retirement, their Social Security may turn out to be a lot less than they counted on.
    • 2012 November 10, Amy Lawrence, “Fulham's Mark Schwarzer saves late penalty in dramatic draw at Arsenal”, in The Guardian:
      Come the final whistle, Mikel Arteta lay flabbergasted on the turf.
Usage notes
  • Came is often used when both the indicated event, period or change in state occurred in the past.

Interjection

come

  1. An exclamation to express annoyance.
    Come come! Stop crying.  Come now! You must eat it.‎
  2. An exclamation to express encouragement, or to precede a request.
    Come come! You can do it.  Come now! It won't bite you.‎

Etymology 2

See comma

Noun

come ‎(plural comes)

  1. (typography, obsolete) Alternative form of comma in its medieval use as a middot ⟨·⟩ serving as a form of colon.

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: old · came · men · #107: come · without · make · def

References

  1. ↑ Chicago Dialect
  2. ↑ Glossophilia
  3. ↑ Glossophilia

Asturian

Verb

come

  1. third-person singular present indicative of comer

Galician

Verb

come

  1. third-person singular present indicative of comer
  2. second-person singular imperative of comer

Italian

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ˈkome]

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *quomo (from Latin quomōdo) + et. Cognate to French comme. See also Spanish como/cómo and Catalan com.

Adverb

come

  1. how
    Come stai? (informal)
    How are you?
    Come sta? (formal)
    How are you?
  2. as, like
    Blu come il mare,
    As blue as the sea.
  3. such as

Derived terms

Conjunction

come

  1. as soon as
    Come arrivò... - As soon as he arrived...

Derived terms

Anagrams

Latin

Adjective

cōme

  1. nominative neuter singular of cōmis
  2. accusative neuter singular of cōmis
  3. vocative neuter singular of cōmis

References

Portuguese

Pronunciation

  • Hyphenation: co‧me

Verb

come

  1. Third-person singular (ele, ela, also used with tu and você?) present indicative of comer
  2. Second-person singular (tu) affirmative imperative of comer

Spanish

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈkome/

Verb

come

  1. third-person singular present indicative of comer
  2. second-person singular present imperative of comer

Etymology

From Middle English comen, cumen, from Old English coman, cuman ‎(“to come, go, happen”), from Proto-Germanic *kwemaną ‎(“to come”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- ‎(“to step”).

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