v. & n.
v.intr. (past came; past part. come) 1 move, be brought towards, or reach a place thought of as near or familiar to the speaker or hearer (come and see me; shall we come to your house?; the books have come). 2 reach or be brought to a specified situation or result (you'll come to no harm; have come to believe it; has come to be used wrongly; came into prominence). 3 reach or extend to a specified point (the road comes within a mile of us). 4 traverse or accomplish (with compl. : have come a long way). 5 occur, happen; become present instead of future (how did you come to break your leg?). 6 take or occupy a specified position in space or time (it comes on the third page; Nero came after Claudius; it does not come within the scope of the inquiry). 7 become perceptible or known (the church came into sight; the news comes as a surprise; it will come to me). 8 be available (the dress comes in three sizes; this model comes with optional features). 9 become (with compl. : the handle has come loose). 10 (foll. by of) a be descended from (comes of a rich family). b be the result of (that comes of complaining). 11 colloq. play the part of; behave like (with compl. : don't come the bully with me). 12 sl. have a sexual orgasm. 13 (in subj.) colloq. when a specified time is reached (come next month). 14 (as int.) expressing caution or reserve (come, it cannot be that bad).
n. sl. semen ejaculated at a sexual orgasm. as ... as they come typically or supremely so (is as tough as they come). come about happen; take place. come across 1 be effective or understood. 2 (foll. by with) sl. hand over what is wanted. 3 meet or find by chance (came across an old jacket). come again colloq. 1 make a further effort. 2 (as imper.) what did you say? come along 1 make progress; move forward. 2 (as imper.) hurry up. come and go 1 pass to and fro; be transitory. 2 pay brief visits. come apart fall or break into pieces, disintegrate. come at 1 reach, discover; get access to. 2 attack (came at me with a knife). come-at-able adj. reachable, accessible. come away 1 become detached or broken off (came away in my hands). 2 (foll. by with) be left with a feeling, impression, etc. (came away with many misgivings). come back 1 return. 2 recur to one's memory. 3 become fashionable or popular again. 4 US reply, retort. come before be dealt with by (a judge etc.). come between 1 interfere with the relationship of. 2 separate; prevent contact between. come by 1 pass; go past. 2 call on a visit (why not come by tomorrow?). 3 acquire, obtain (came by a new bicycle). come clean see CLEAN. come down 1 come to a place or position regarded as lower. 2 lose position or wealth (has come down in the world). 3 be handed down by tradition or inheritance. 4 be reduced; show a downward trend (prices are coming down). 5 (foll. by against, in favour of) reach a decision or recommendation (the report came down against change). 6 (foll. by to) signify or betoken basically; be dependent on (a factor) (it comes down to who is willing to go). 7 (foll. by on) criticize harshly; rebuke, punish. 8 (foll. by with) begin to suffer from (a disease). come for 1 come to collect or receive. 2 attack (came for me with a hammer). come forward 1 advance. 2 offer oneself for a task, post, etc. come-hither attrib.adj. colloq. (of a look or manner) enticing, flirtatious. come in 1 enter a house or room. 2 take a specified position in a race etc. (came in third). 3 become fashionable or seasonable. 4 a have a useful role or function. b (with compl.) prove to be (came in very handy). c have a part to play (where do I come in?). 5 be received (more news has just come in). 6 begin speaking, esp. in radio transmission. 7 be elected; come to power. 8 Cricket begin an innings. 9 (foll. by for) receive; be the object of (usu. something unwelcome) (came in for much criticism). 10 (foll. by on) join (an enterprise etc.). 11 (of a tide) turn to high tide. 12 (of a train, ship, or aircraft) approach its destination. come into 1 see senses 2, 7 of v. 2 receive, esp. as heir. come near see NEAR. come of age see AGE. come off 1 colloq. (of an action) succeed; be accomplished. 2 (with compl.) fare; turn out (came off badly; came off the winner). 3 coarse sl. have a sexual orgasm. 4 be detached or detachable (from). 5 fall (from). 6 be reduced or subtracted from ($5 came off the price). come off it (as imper.) colloq. an expression of disbelief or refusal to accept another's opinion, behaviour, etc. come on 1 continue to come. 2 advance, esp. to attack. 3 make progress; thrive (is really coming on). 4 (foll. by to + infin.) begin (it came on to rain). 5 appear on the stage, field of play, etc. 6 be heard or seen on television, on the telephone, etc. 7 arise to be discussed. 8 (as imper.) expressing encouragement. 9 = come upon. come-on n. sl. a lure or enticement. come out 1 emerge; become known (it came out that he had left). 2 appear or be published (comes out every Saturday). 3 a declare oneself; make a decision (came out in favour of joining). b openly declare that one is a homosexual. 4 Brit. go on strike. 5 a be satisfactorily visible in a photograph etc., or present in a specified way (the dog didn't come out; he came out badly). b (of a photograph) be produced satisfactorily or in a specified way (only three have come out; they all came out well). 6 attain a specified result in an examination etc. 7 (of a stain etc.) be removed. 8 make one's début on stage or in society. 9 (foll. by in) be covered with (came out in spots). 10 (of a problem) be solved. 11 (foll. by with) declare openly; disclose. come over 1 come from some distance or nearer to the speaker (came over from Paris; come over here a moment). 2 change sides or one's opinion. 3 a (of a feeling etc.) overtake or affect (a person). b colloq. feel suddenly (came over faint). 4 appear or sound in a specified way (you came over very well; the ideas came over clearly). 5 affect or influence (I don't know what came over me). come round 1 pay an informal visit. 2 recover consciousness. 3 be converted to another person's opinion. 4 (of a date or regular occurrence) recur; be imminent again. come through 1 be successful; survive. 2 be received by telephone. 3 survive or overcome (a difficulty) (came through the ordeal). come to 1 recover consciousness. 2 Naut. bring a vessel to a stop. 3 reach in total; amount to. 4 refl. a recover consciousness. b stop being foolish. 5 have as a destiny; reach (what is the world coming to?). come to hand become available; be recovered. come to light see LIGHT(1). come to nothing have no useful result in the end; fail. come to pass happen, occur. come to rest cease moving. come to one's senses see SENSE. come to that colloq. in fact; if that is the case. come under 1 be classified as or among. 2 be subject to (influence or authority). come up 1 come to a place or position regarded as higher. 2 attain wealth or position (come up in the world ). 3 (of an issue, problem, etc.) arise; present itself; be mentioned or discussed. 4 (often foll. by to) a approach a person, esp. to talk. b approach or draw near to a specified time, event, etc. (is coming up to eight o'clock). 5 (foll. by to) match (a standard etc.). 6 (foll. by with) produce (an idea etc.), esp. in response to a challenge. 7 (of a plant etc.) spring up out of the ground. 8 become brighter (e.g. with polishing); shine more brightly. come up against be faced with or opposed by. come upon 1 meet or find by chance. 2 attack by surprise. come what may no matter what happens. have it coming to one colloq. be about to get one's deserts. how come? colloq. how did that happen? if it comes to that in that case. to come future; in the future (the year to come; many problems were still to come).
[ OE cuman f. Gmc ]