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



    BrE BrE//kʌm//
    ; NAmE NAmE//kʌm//
    Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they come
    BrE BrE//kʌm//
    ; NAmE NAmE//kʌm//
    he / she / it comes
    BrE BrE//kʌmz//
    ; NAmE NAmE//kʌmz//
    past simple came
    BrE BrE//keɪm//
    ; NAmE NAmE//keɪm//
    past participle come
    BrE BrE//kʌm//
    ; NAmE NAmE//kʌm//
    -ing form coming
    BrE BrE//ˈkʌmɪŋ//
    ; NAmE NAmE//ˈkʌmɪŋ//
    jump to other results
    to a place
  1. 1  [intransitive] to move to or towards a person or place (+ adv./prep.) 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.
  2. 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. 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. 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 something) (with somebody) Are you coming to the club with us tonight? come doing something Why don't you come skating tonight?
  5. running/hurrying etc.
  6. 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.
  7. travel
  8. 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.
  9. happen
  10. 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.
  11. 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?
  12. to a position/state
  13. 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). She came second (= received the second highest score) in the exam.
  14. 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.
  15. 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).
  16. 12  [intransitive, transitive] to become + adj. The buttons had come undone. The handle came loose. Everything will come right in the end. come to do something This design came to be known as the Oriental style.
  17. 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.
  18. sex
  19. 14[intransitive] (informal) to have an orgasm
  20. Word Origin Old English cuman, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch komen and German kommen.Extra examples I’ve come to expect this kind of behaviour from him. Are you coming to the theatre with us this evening? Come back, I need to talk to you! He came towards me. He doesn’t come across very well when he speaks in public. I’ve come for those books you promised me. She comes across as shy, but she’s actually very confident. At last, the time came to leave. Business improved as Christmas came nearer. Despite all the publicity, not many people came. Dusk came quickly. He came to England by ship. He wanted to be buried beside her when the time came. He’s come all the way from Tokyo. Here comes Jo! How far have you come? I hope you can come to Australia to visit us. I never thought the day would come when I’d feel sorry for him. I’m sorry, I won’t be able to come. I’ve come about my book. I’ve come to see Mrs Cooper. If you can’t come to the meeting, let us know in advance. If you come late, the doctor may not be able to see you. It’s looks as if there’s a storm coming. Let me know if any more mail comes. People came from all over the country. People came from all over the world to settle here. Please come to my party on September 10th. She came to work wearing a very smart suit. Thanks for coming! The deadline came and went, but there was no reply from them. The time had come to let a younger person lead the party. They’re coming to stay for a week. We’ve come a long way and we’re very tired. When is your son coming home? When the moment actually came, I began to feel a little nervous. Why don’t you come skating with us tonight? Your breakfast is coming soon!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
    jump to other results
    (informal) to be very clever, stupid, etc.
    to play the part of a particular type of person; to behave in a particular way Don't come the innocent with me. (informal) used to ask somebody to repeat something ‘She's an entomologist.’ ‘Come again?’ ‘An entomologist—she studies insects.’
    1. 1to arrive and leave; to move freely They had a party next door—we heard people coming and going all night.
    2. 2to be present for a short time and then go away The pain in my leg comes and goes.
    come easily, naturally, etc. to somebody
    jump to other results
    (of an activity, a skill, etc.) to be easy, natural, etc. for somebody to do Acting comes naturally to her.
    come over (all) faint, dizzy, giddy, etc.
    jump to other results
    (old-fashioned, British English, informal) to suddenly feel ill/sick or faint
    come to nothing, not come to anything
    jump to other results
    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.
    come to that, if it comes to that
    jump to other results
    (informal, especially British English) 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.
    how come (…)?(informal)
    jump to other results
     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?
    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 comes to something/to doing something
    jump to other results
     when it is a question of something When it comes to getting things done, he's useless.
    where somebody is coming from
    jump to other results
    (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).
    Phrasal Verbscome about (that…)come acrosscome across somebodycome across (with something)come after somebodycome alongcome apartcome at somebodycome at somethingcome away (from something)come away with somethingcome backcome back (at somebody) (with something)come back (to somebody)come back to somethingcome before somebodycome between somebody and somebodycome by (something)come by somethingcome downcome down (from…)come down (from…) (to…)come down (to somebody)come down on somebodycome down to somethingcome down with somethingcome forwardcome from…come from somethingcome from somethingcome income in (on something)come in for somethingcome into somethingcome offcome off (something)come off somethingcome off itcome oncome on somebodycome on to somebodycome on to somethingcome outcome out (of something)come out at somethingcome out in somethingcome out of somethingcome out of yourselfcome out with somethingcome overcome over (to…)come over (to…) (from…)come over (to something)come over somebodycome roundcome roundcome roundcome roundcome throughcome through (something)come through (with something)come tocome to somebodycome to somethingcome togethercome to yourselfcome under somethingcome upcome up (to…)come up (to…) (from…)come up (to somebody)come up against somebodycome up for somethingcome upon somebodycome up to somethingcome up with something
See the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary entry: come