▪ I. come, v.
(kʌm)
Pa. tense came (keɪm); pa. pple. come (kʌm). Forms: see below.
[A common Teut. strong v.: OE. cuman, pa. tense cuóm, cóm, pl. cwómon, cómon, pa. pple. cumen, cymen = OFris. kuman (koman), kom, kômon, kimen, OS. cuman, quam, quâmun, cuman (MDu. comen, quam, quamen (Flem. also cam, camen), comen; Du. komen, kwaam, kwamen, gekomen); OHG. queman, coman, (chomen), and cuman, pa. tense quam, cham, chom, pl. quâmun, châmun, pa. pple. quoman, koman, chomen, kumen (MHG. komen, pa. tense quam, kam, kom, pl. quâmen, kâmen, kômen, pple. komen; mod.G. kommen, pa. tense kam, kamen, pple. gekommen); ON. koma, pa. tense kvam, kom, pl. kvǫ́mom, kómom, pple. komenn (Sw. komma, kom, kommo, kommen, Da. komme, kom, kommet); Goth. qiman, pa. tense qam, pl. qêmum, pple. qumans; all:—OTeut. *kweman and kuman, kwam, kwæ̂mum-, kumano-:—Aryan *g{supw}em-, g{supw}m-, cf. Skr. and Zend. gam, Gr. βαίνω (:—*banjō :—*gwmjo-), L. venio (:—*gwemjô), etc.
The present tense had two stem-forms in Teutonic, viz. kwem- and kum-, repr. pre-Teutonic g{supw}em-, g{supw}m-, respectively; the latter being commonly considered an ‘aorist-present’. Of these, Gothic shows only the former; OHG. shows both; OE. only the kum- stem. The OE. cum- has remained to the present day, being regularly represented by the current kʌm (in north. Eng. kʊm); the spelling cum was also frequent to 17th c., but the ME. scribal usage of writing o for u before m, n, u (v), introduced in 13th c. the spelling come, which finally prevailed: cf. some, son, tongue, love, etc. This use of o in ME. alike for the u of the present and pa. pple., and the ō of the past, was a defect of the writing which needs to be kept in mind.
The pa. tense had in WGer. the typical forms kwam, kwâmun; in OE., as in the parallel vb. niman to take, the long vowel of the plural was taken into the sing., giving cuóm, cuómon, later cóm, cómon, which in southern Eng. lived on through the ME. period as cōm (coom, come), cōmen (cōme, coome, coom). But just as, in late WS., nóm, nómon, became nam, námon, so in late Northumbrian cóm, cómon appear to have become cam, cāmen, which are found in the earliest specimens of northern ME. These forms were used by Wyclif, and soon afterwards drove out com, come, which hardly appear after 1500 in the literary language, though still widely prevalent in midland and southern dialects. In northern dialect, the pronunciation is still (kam), but in standard Eng. it has duly passed into (keɪm); cf. Cambridge.
The pa. pple. cumen was used by some down to the 17th c., when it was still written comen, com'n. As usual, however, the final n began to be lost in the 13th c. (esp. in the form with prefix ycomen, ycome), whereby this part was at length levelled with the infinitive as come. Notwithstanding a strong tendency in 16–17th c. to conform it to the weak conjugation as comed (a form which has established itself dialectally, e.g. in south of Scotland), the clipt form come (kʌm) remains that of standard English.
In OE., umlaut forms of the present stem occurred in the normal 2 and 3 sing. cymes(t), cymeð, cymþ, which survived in early ME. kimest, kimeð; also in the pres. conj. cyme, and in the pa. pple. cymen (:—*kumino-); in ONorthumbrian, umlaut forms were more or less frequent all through the present stem, but these do not appear in ME. (See Sievers in Paul u. Braune's Beitr. VIII. 81.)
The perfect tenses were originally formed with the auxiliary be, which is still retained to express the resulting state; in the expression of action have has gradually displaced be: see be v. 14 b.]
A. Forms.
1. pres. stem: a. inf. 1 cuman, 2–4 cumen, 3–5 cume, 4–6 cum; 3–4 comen, 3– come. (Also 3–4 kumen, komen, 4 commen, 4–6 comme, 4–7 com, 5 comyn, -in, cumne, cumnyn, 6 cumme, coome.)
| a 1000 Beowulf 494 Cuman ongunnan. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 19 Þet he sculde cumen. c 1200 Winteney, Rule St. Benet (1888) 80 Cumende..toforan þam abbode. c 1205 Lay. 1156 Þa þingen þa weren to kumen. a 1300 Signs bef. Judgm. in E.E.P. (1862) 10 Þat he sold come. a 1300 Cursor M. 24893 (Cott.) Quen þou cums [v.r. c 1340 comes, comis]. c 1400 Apol. Loll. 37 Ȝif þu cum til a frend. Ibid. 92 Wan þu cumyst in to þe lond. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 108/1 Cum, or come [K. cvmnyn, H. cvmne] Venio. c 1450 Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1866) 247 Fro heuene to comyn. 1486 Bk. St. Albans E j a, Where that ye cum. 1559 Mirr. Mag., Mowbray's Banishm. xxii, To Englande not to coome. 1588 Allen Admon. (1842) 36 Now did he threaten to cum. 1657 J. Smith Myst. Rhet. 79 Cicero comming to Appius. 1808 Scott Marm. v. xii, O come ye in peace here, or come ye in war? |
b. pres. ind. 2nd and 3rd sing. 1 cym(e)st, cymþ, cymmeð, 1–3 cumeþ, 2–3 kimest, kimeð; 3– comest, cometh, comes.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter c[i]. 2 Ðonne þu cymes to me. Ibid. xxxvi. 13 Cymeð dæᵹ his. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 21 Þenne kimeð þe deofel. a 1225 Juliana 63 Kimest king o domesdei. 1340 Ayenb. 87 Þe ilke vrydom comþ of grace. c 1350 Will. Palerne 330 Whanne þou komest to kourt. c 1450 Guy Warw. (C.) 11330 A man þat comyth onys therynne. |
2. pa. tense (α) 1 cwóm, cuóm, 1 cóm, 2–6 cōm, 4–5 coom, coome, come. pl. 1 cwómon, quómon, cómon, 2–5 cōmen, 4–6 come, (4 com, coom, 5 comyn, -un, cum; mod. dial. coome, come).
| c 855 O.E. Chron. Introd., Hie up cuomon. Ibid. an. 855 æfter þam to his leode cuom..and ymb ii ᵹear þæs þe he in Francum com he ᵹefór. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 19 He com among us. Ibid. 9 Heo comen..to þan sinagoge. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1979 His sunes comen him to sen. c 1300 Cursor M. 17288 Resurrection 163 (Cott.) He come not in company. c 1340 Ibid. 8958 (Trin.) She coom in at þulke ȝate. Ibid. 10127 (Fairf.) How prophecijs comyn [v.r. com, coom, cam] to end. c 1388 in Wyclif's Sel. Wks. III. 458 He coome not to seche his owne glorie. ? a 1400 Arthur 512 Þis lond þat he coom fram. c 1400 Destr. Troy 1004 Þai..Comyn euyn to the kyng. Ibid. 1021 To these kynges he come. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxv. 119 Till þai comme at þe emperour. c 1420 Avow. Arth. xxxi, Thay..Comun to the kinge. 1523 Sir W. Bulmer in Ellis Orig. Lett. Ser. i. I. 328 He com to me when the water was hyg. 1854 W. Gaskell Lect. Lanc. Dial. 24 (Lanc. Gloss.), A Lancashire man does not say he ‘came’, but he ‘coome’. 1888 W. Somerset Word-bk., Come pa. t.: came is unknown. |
(β) 3–6 north. cam, (kam), 5– came. Also 4 kem. pl. 3–5 north. camen, (kamen), 4– came, (north. cam).
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 416 Þan caim [= Cain] of Eue cam. a 1300 Cursor M. 677 (Gött.) Þe bestis cam him all aboute. Ibid. 12615 (Gött.) Scho came [v.r. com, coom] into a skole gangand. c 1320 Sir Beues (1885) 2571 Whan he to londe kem. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 158 Þe messengers kamen to þe kyng ysaak. ? c 1370 Robt. Cicyle (Halliw.) 57 To Rome came the aungelle soone. 1388 Wyclif Matt. ix. 28 Whanne he cam in to the hous, the blynde men camen to hym. 1516 in E. Lodge Illust. Brit. Hist. (1791) I. 12 The Quene of Scotts cam to Enfyld. 1521 Fisher Wks. 332 Saynt paule, whiche cam after them. 1532 Bp. Longland in Ellis Orig. Lett. iii. 97 I. 252 Itt came in to my house. 1841 Lane Arab. Nts. I. 114 Thou camest in two days and a half. |
(γ) occas. cum (?), cumen.
| c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1065 To Lothes hus he cumen. |
(δ) dial. 8–9 comed, coom'd.
| 1800–44 Pegge Anecd. Eng. Lang. (ed. 3) 188 Com'd in the London dialect is used both for the preterit came and for our false participle come. 1864 Tennyson North. Farmer (Old Style) v, An' I hallus coom'd to's choorch afoor moy Sally wur dead. 1879 G. F. Jackson Shropshire Word-bk. p. lii, Pres. come; Pret. come, comed; Pa. pple. comen. |
3. pa. pple. (α) 1–4 cumen, 2–3 icumen, ikumen, 4 cummyn, -in; 3–5 i-comen, 3–7, 9 dial. comen. Also 4 y-comen, comin, -inne, commun, cummen, -in, -un, 4–5 commen, comun, 4–6 comyn, commyn, 5 cumne, 6 cummen, 6–7 com'n, 7 comne.
| c 898 O.E. Chron. an. 894 Wæs Hæsten þa þær cumen. 1154 Ibid. (Laud MS.) an. 1135 En mang þis was his nefe cumen to Engle-land. a 1240 Ureisun 112 in Cott. Hom. 197 Ich am to ðe ikumen. a 1300 Cursor M. 7991 (Cott.) Commen i am. c 1340 Ibid. 22303 (Edin.) Cominne ic am. 1576 J. Woolton Chr. Manual (Parker Soc.) 4 Which thing should have comen to pass. 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn, i. iv. §12 Hence it hath comen, that in arts Mechanicall, the first deviser coms shortest. 1633 T. James Voy. 106 We..were now comne into such a tumbling sea. 1687 P. Henry Diaries & Lett. (1882) 355 Many who are com'n lately out of Ireland. 1879 [see 2 δ above]. |
(β) 4–5 cum, icome, 5 ycome, com, 4– come.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 10575 (Gött.) Quen anna was cum. c 1435 Torr. Portugal 1236 To the kyng the thoght com was. c 1450 Merlin x. 149 Is oure socour than I-come? 1712 Steele Spect. 496, I am just come from Tunbridge. 1815 Scott Guy M. liv. The Hour's come and the Man. |
(γ) 6 cumd, -de, -ed, -it, -yt, cummed, commed, -yd, 6–7 com'd, 6–8, 9 dial. comed, coom'd.
| c 1525 in Lingard Hist. Eng. VI. 342 Dr. London is soddenlye commyd unto me. a 1572 Knox Hist. Ref. Wks. 1846 I. 371 His iniquitie was cumed to full rypenes. 1614 T. White Martyrd. St. George B iv b, Com'd to the Temple, Georg..Surueys the Idols. 1649 G. Daniel Trinarch., Rich. II, lvi, Wee..Are com'd. 1652 J. Wetherall Discov. Opin. False Brethren 60, I might have com'd. 1705 S. Whately in W. Perry Hist. Coll. Amer. Col. Ch., What need they have comed over night then? 1848 [see 43 d]. |
B. Signification.
gen. An elementary intransitive verb of motion, expressing movement towards or so as to reach the speaker, or the person spoken to, or towards a point where the speaker in thought or imagination places himself, or (when he is not himself in question) towards the person who forms the subject of his narrative. It is thus often used in opposition to go, although the latter does not primarily involve direction, and is often used without reference thereto. Come is also used merely of the accomplishment of the movement, involved in reaching or becoming present at any place or point; and sometimes the entrance upon motion, involved in issuing from a source, is alone, or at least chiefly, thought of (cf. 11).
It is rarely quasi-trans. by ellipsis: see VI. I. Of motion in space.
* of actual motion.
1. In its most literal sense it expresses the hitherward motion of a voluntary agent. a. To move towards, approach.
| c 825 Vesp. Psalter cxxv[i]. 6 Gongende eodon and weopun sendende sed he[ara], cumende soðlice cumað in wynsumnisse beorende reopan heara. a 1300 Cursor M. 3992 O folk tua flokes cums wit me. Ibid. 4176 Þan sagh þai cumand be þe stret Marchands. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 1637 Þey..hiderward buþ now comyng. c 1420 Avow. Arth. xvi, He mette the bore comande. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon viii. 195 Here comyn our enmyes. 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. ix. 25 Loe! he comes, he comes fast after mee. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. iii. ii. 38 Bap. Is he come?..Bion. He is comming. Bap. When will he be heere? 1784 Cowper Task iv. 5 O'er yonder bridge..He comes, the herald of a noisy world, With spattered boots. 1859 Tennyson Geraint & Enid 975 Yonder comes a knight. |
b. esp. To reach by moving towards; hence, often merely, To arrive, present oneself.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Luke x. 35 Þonne ic cume ic hit forᵹylde þe. a 1300 Cursor M. 5050 (Gött.) Ruben..had mekil ioy quen þai war comin. c 1386 Chaucer Sec. Nun's T. 242 And with that word, Tiburce, his brother come. c 1450 Merlin i. 7 She sente after this woman, and she com. 1528 in Strype Eccl. Mem. I. App. xxiv. 64, He was very sory, that he could not cumme soner..and now cummen he wold not faile to do the best he could. 1631 Milton Epit. Mch'ness Winchester 19 He at their invoking came. 1782 Cowper J. Gilpin 167 Say why bareheaded you are come, Or why you come at all? 1854 Tennyson To Rev. F. D. Maurice, Come, when no graver cares employ, Godfather, come and see your boy. |
c. Phr. let 'em (or them) all come: a formula expressing confidence in face of a challenge by others.
| [1739 J. Wesley Let. 7 May (1931) I. 306 No; let them all come; let all the world see the judgement of God.] 1899 Captain I. 121 (caption) Let 'em all come. 1912 Kipling Diversity of Creatures (1917) 40 ‘The rest will be coming along to-morrow.’ ‘Let 'em all come!’ said Vincent. 1914 C. Knight Here we Are! (song), Are we downhearted? No! let 'em all come! 1921 H. Williamson Beautiful Years 214 What do you and I care for keepers, eh? Nothing at all. Let them all come. I'll show 'em what it means to hurt my birds. |
2. Also said of the hitherward motion of involuntary agents: a. of things having (apparently) a motion of their own, as water, wind, etc. Naut. said spec. of the direction or nature of the wind.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 1042 (Gött.) Þat might neuer flod cum þar ney. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. v. xxiv. (1495) 133 The humours comm fro the heed to the pypes of the throte. c 1430 Cookery Bks. (E.E.T.S.) 17 Boyle it, an when yt komyth on hy, a-lye it with wyne. 1549 Compl. Scotl. 34 Quhen the rane cummis. 1633 T. James Voy. 23 The winde came Easterly: so that we could not budge. 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xxx. 108 This river..comes from Tartaria, out of a lake, called Fanistor. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. 16 The Wind is fair..he comes well, as if he would stand. 1720 De Foe Capt. Singleton xv. (1840) 256 The..arrows came thick among them. c 1790 J. Willock Voy. ii. 54 On the twenty-ninth, the wind coming favourable we put to sea. 1870 Tennyson Window, Sun comes, moon comes, Time slips away. |
b. of things which are brought, or of persons brought without their own will. In many phrases, e.g. to come to bear: to be (or suffer itself to be) brought to bear: see bear v. 40, 32, bring 8 f.
| c 1340 Cursor M. 18479 (Trin.) A cloþinge is comen vs vp on. 1469 in Arnolde Chron. (1811) 117 To alle trewe cristen pepull to whom thys present wrytting shalbe come. 1574 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford 353 S{supr} Francis Knowils letter came as it were to bayle me. 1611 Bible Judg. xiii. 5 No rasor shall come on his head. 1667 Pepys Diary 17 Aug., The play is the most ridiculous that sure ever came upon stage. 1720 De Foe Capt. Singleton xi. (1840) 192 Her main topmast was come by the board. 1728 R. Morris Ess. Anc. Archit. 6 Architecture came to Rome..about 461 Years before Marcellus. 1745 P. Thomas Jrnl. Anson's Voy. 282 Every one firing as fast as his Gun would come to bear. a 1786 Cowper Yearly Distress 37 The dinner comes, and down they sit. 1805 A. Duncan Mariner's Chron. III. 209 All her masts came immediately by the board. 1855 A. Manning Old Chelsea Bun-house viii. 125 The Letter was not long a-coming. |
c. To move or be brought to a particular position; to fall or land on a part of the body, etc.
| 1804 G. Rose Diaries (1860) II. 193 The horse, on cantering down a..hill, came on his head. 1843 Dickens Christmas Carol ii, He appeared to wink with his legs, and came upon his feet again without a stagger. 1889 Chamb. Jrnl. 9 Nov. 725/2 She came to an abrupt halt. |
3. Constructions. a. With prepositions. The preposition naturally following come is to; instead of which, however, there may stand any other of more complex sense, in which the notion to is contained or involved, as into, unto, towards, against, on, upon, about, around, beside, near, above, beneath, before, behind, over, under the point of direction; before a person, a tribunal, etc.
Beside the notion of to expressed or understood, relations of other kinds may be considered; and these sometimes become the only ones actually considered or expressed, e.g. from the point left, across, along, through, by, over, under, up, down a route followed or things passed, with a companion or accompaniment, by, in a conveyance, for a thing wanted, after a person or thing followed or sought.
| c 975 Rushw. Gosp. John iii. 26 Alle comon to him. c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Luke xiv. 27 Se þe..cymð æfter me. 1154 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1132 Ðis ȝear com Henri King to þis land . þam com Henri abbot. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1438 Eliezer him cam a-gon. Ibid. 2940 And comen biforen pharaon. a 1300 Cursor M. 3356 Quat man es he þat cumand tilward us i se? Ibid. 12362 Þe leons com him all a-bute. 1382 Wyclif Mark v. 1 Thei camen ouer the wawe of the see into the cuntree of Genazareth. c 1386 Chaucer Prol. 23 At nyght were come in to that hostelrye. c 1450 Merlin iii. 45 The kynge come fro chirche. 1529 More Comf. agst. Trib. iii. Wks. 1333/1 He causeth lyke a good husband man, his folke to come on fielde. 1667 Pepys Diary 5 Oct., What base company of men comes among them. a 1714 Burnet Own Time II. 30 She came on her way as far as Metz. 1720 De Foe Capt. Singleton xii. 205 He came aboard my ship. Ibid. 205/1 A whole troop of old ones came about us at the noise. 1825 Cobbett Rur. Rides (1885) II. 1 We came through a fine flock of ewes. 1836 Dickens Sk. Boz 6 Coming up the stairs. 1843 ― Christmas Carol iv, Come into the parlour. 1838 Lytton Alice x. iii, The squire has only just come off a journey. 1848 Mrs. Gaskell Mary Barton xviii, I'll come with you. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) V. 524 The stranger who comes from abroad. |
¶ The collocation of come with a particular preposition has often a specialized sense: e.g. to come by (a thing) = to acquire. For these see VIII.
b. Come may be followed by the inf. of purpose, with to (formerly sometimes preceded by for as still in vulgar use).
| a 1300 Cursor M. 190 (Gött.) Mari..Com to wasse vr lauerdes fete. 1485 Caxton Paris & V. 17 Were comen for to see the feste. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 89 They came to take him. 1607 T. Walkington Opt. Glass i. (1664) 9 Charon and Atropos are com'd to call me away from my delicies. 1726 Swift Gulliver (1869) 183/1 Those who came to visit me. 1843 Dickens Christmas Carol i, When will you come to see me? 1859 Tennyson Guinevere 529, I did not come to curse thee, Guinevere. |
c. Purpose or business is also expressed by the vbl. n. with a (= on).
| 16.. Evelyn Mem. (1857) III. 141 He suspected I came a birding. 1846 Tennyson Dora 140, I never came a-begging for myself. |
d. The purposed sequel or consequence of coming is joined by and.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. John i. 39 He cwæþ to him cumað & geseoþ. 1382 Wyclif Luke xx. 16 He schal come, and lese these tilieres. a 1498 J. Warkworth Chron. (Camden Soc.) 5 Every manne was suffred to come and speke withe hym. 1535 Coverdale Ps. lxxv[i]. 9 All nacions..shall come and worshipe before the o Lorde. 1660 Trial Regic. 196 Several persons came and offered themselves. 1704 Pope Summer 63 Come, lovely nymph, and bless the silent hours. 1812 H. & J. Smith Rej. Addr., Macbeth Travestie iii, Diddle diddle, Good Duncan, pray come and be killed. 1854 [see 1 b]. Mod. Come and see us in our new home. He came and bought one. |
† e. Formerly the inf. was used without and.
| c 1430 Lydg. Bochas iv. ix. (1554) 107 b, He must come flatter. c 1485 Digby Myst. (1882) iii. 618, I be-seche yow..thys daye to com dyne at my hows. 1539 Cranmer Matt. xxviii. 6 Come se [Tindale come and se] the place where that the Lord was layed. 1542 Udall Erasm. Apophth. 299 b, As many as wer in the citee betweene sixteen and sixtie should..come follow hym. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. iv. ii. 80 Quicke, quicke, wee'le come dresse you straight. 1604 ― Oth. iii. iv. 50, I haue sent to bid Cassio come speake with you. 1647 W. Browne tr. Polexander ii. 55 Spaniards, which seem'd to have come offer themselves to your sword. |
f. An action accompanying the hitherward motion (and often constituting the principal notion) was originally expressed by a following infinitive; but now by a following participle in -ing.
| Beowulf 240 (Gr.) ᵹe..þe þus brontne ceol ofer lagustræte lædan cwomon. a 1000 Crist 902 (Gr.) Sunnan leoma cymeþ scynan. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 81 A vuhel com flon from houene. c 1205 Lay. 25525 Þer comen seilien..scipes. c 1290 Saints' Lives (Laud MS. 1887) St. Cuthbert 5 Þare cam gon a luyte child. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 1554 As þese frensche men come ryde on message fro Charloun. Ibid. 2333 Wiþ þat cam renne sire Bruyllant. |
| c 1450 Guy Warw. (C.) 605 There come prykyng dewke Raynere. 1485 Caxton Chas. Gt. 163 He sawe rychard come rydyng vpon an hors. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. lxxvi. 97 The Scottes came fleyng ouer the dales. 1678 Bunyan Pilgr. i. 44 There came two Men running against him amain. 1726 Swift Gulliver (1869) 205/1 The nag came galloping towards me. 1832 Tennyson Lady of Shalott ii. iii, The knights come riding two and two. 1843 Dickens Christmas Carol i, The fog came pouring in at every chink and keyhole. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 24 You come asking in what wisdom..differs from the other sciences. |
g. There may be an adverbial accusative of the way pursued or the distance traversed. come your ways: see way.
| 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. i. ii. 221 Come your waies. 1773 Goldsm. Stoops to Conq. i. ii, We were told it was but forty miles..and we have come above threescore. Ibid., The road you came. Ibid. v, They are coming this way. 1887 Stevenson Underwoods i. xi. 23 We have come the primrose way. Mod. We have come many miles by train. |
4. a. Instead of the place of destination, the purpose or function may be introduced by to.
| 1440 J. Shirley Dethe K. James 19 His servantes..shuld..haf cumne to his socoure. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 474 If he would personally come to a communication. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. xii. 4 He might not..with th' eternall Gods to bancket come. 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. iv. i. 223 A Daniel come to iudgement. 1748 Smollett Rod. Rand. xxii, Coming to the relief of a damsel in distress. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. 94 The promised deliverer of their race, would come to the rescue. |
b. Conversely, the name of a place (with to, into) may include, or simply stand for, what is done there; as in to come to the bar, into court, into market, to the hammer, etc. (See these.)
| 1781 Ann. Reg., Hist. Europe 199*/1 The matter came into the court of King's Bench. 1825 New Monthly Mag. XIV. 19 When I came to the bar a man's success depended upon his exertions. 1883 Black Yolande II. ix. 170 Monaglen is about to come into the market. 1887 Mrs. J. H. Riddell Nun's Curse II. ii. 39 Amos won't let the matter come into court if he can help it. |
c. to come into the world: to be born.
| [1382 Wyclif John i. 9 It was verri liȝt which liȝtneth ech man comynge into this world. Ibid. xviii. 37 To this thing I am born, and to this I cam in to the world, that I bere witnessing to treuthe.] c 1510 W. de Worde Gesta Rom. A vij, Euery man cometh poore and naked in to this worlde frome his moders bely. 1849 Dickens Dav. Copp. i, He died..six months before I came into the world. |
d. Phr. to have come to stay: see stay v. 8 c.
** of attributed motion.
5. a. Of things: To extend, reach, or project with an extremity, from one point to or towards another.
| c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. (MS. A.) 24, From þe brayn comen .vii. peire cordes..alle þe cordis þat comen of þe brayn. 15.. Prose Legends in Anglia VIII. 151 A cote..comynge to the helys. 1547 Boorde Introd. Knowl. 172 The cyte is well walled, and there commeth to it an arme of the See. 1611 Coryat Crudities 294 Yron beames that came athwart or acrosse from one side to the other. 1675 in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1883) I. 286 The..new building to come noe further in the street than the old..Channell doth extend. 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 174 Wooden Screws entred into wooden Nuts..and coming through against the Rest. Mod. Does the railway come near the town? |
b. to come to an end: to end, terminate, be concluded. to come to a point: to terminate in a point, etc.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. de P.R. v. ii. (Tollem. MS.), Þe heed is sumdel comynge narow, and hyȝe. 1694 Narborough Acc. Sev. Late Voy. i. (1711) 31 Their hind part tapers till it comes to a point. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. viii. 58 The fissure at length came to an end. |
6. a. Things are said to come (to a person), come in sight, come into view, etc., to which, or in sight of which, he comes as he advances.
| 1825 New Monthly Mag. XIII. 373 Bethlehem soon came in view. 1842 Tait's Mag. IX. 43/1 The house-keeper's and servants' rooms came next. 1850 Ibid. XVII. 28/1 Pianosa now came in sight. 1879 G. J. Whyte-Melville Riding Recoll. xi. (ed. 7) 201 Jump off..to walk up and down the hills with him as they come. 1889 G. G. A. Murray Gobi or Shamo xxi. 357 The sparse fields of stubble come quite as a relief to the eye. |
b. By extensions of this, things are said to come in one's way, come within one's reach, come under one's notice, come within the scope of a measure, and the like; also to come in a particular position or order with relation to contiguous things, to inclusion in a classification, etc., as to come on such a page of a book, come before or after other things, come under a heading, etc. See esp. come under, 49.
| 1687 Burnet Contn. Refl. Varillas 68 There is but one Doctor, unless Fisher comes into the Account. 1818 Cobbett Pol. Reg. XXXIII. 680 Instances that have come within my own knowledge. 1823 New Monthly Mag. IX. 423/2 Such books as came within his reach. 1874 Stubbs Const. Hist. Eng. I. iii. 53 Beneath these comes the free class of labourers. 1876 F. G. Fleay Shaks. Manual i. ix. 86 It does not come within the scope of this book. 1877 Scribn. Mag. XV. 199/1 This did not come into the category. 1885 Sir R. Baggallay in Law Rep. 14 Q.B. Div. 879 This case did not come within the terms of [the] Order. |
7. The motion of a limb, weapon, or tool is often spoken of as that of the person who comes with it (i.e. brings it) to such a position; cf. come down with, come out with.
| 1699 W. Dampier Voy. II. i. viii. 155 We set our Sails again..and ordered the man at Helm not to come to the southward of the E.S.E. 1787 Advice to Officers Brit. Army (ed. 9) 128 The same effect may be produced by coming from the shoulder to the order at two motions. 1883 Army Corps Orders in Standard 22 Mar. 3/3 The whole of the Infantry..will come to the ‘shoulder’ by battalions on entering the saluting base. |
II. Where the notion of movement in space passes into or is sunk in other notions.
* to come (to a person, etc.).
8. a. said of things which one receives, or becomes possessed of: = To fall to one.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 18409 Hu come þe sa grathli gode? c 1382 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 502 Þo moste heresye þat God suffred cum to his Chirche. 1545 R. Ascham Toxoph. i. (Arb.) 31 The profite that may come thereby to many other. 1582 J. Hester Secr. Phiorav. i. vi. 7 Bothe [Measles and Small Pox] come with an accident of a Fever. a 1593 H. Smith Serm. (1637) 612 Riches come, and yet the man is not pleased. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 269 Tell me..whether it [virtue] comes to man by nature. |
b. esp. of possessions that one gets in due course, as by inheritance or other legal process.
| a 1400 Cato's Morals 37 in Cursor M. App. iv, Þat comis þe be heritage. 1542 James V. in Scott Tales Grandf. Ser. i. xxviii, It came with a lass, and it will go with a lass. 1674 tr. Machiavel's Florentine Hist. i. 35 Till such time as the Papacy came to Alexander the Third. 1687 Burnet Contn. Refl. Varillas 106 The Succession came to the Dutchess of Suffolk's Daughters. 1766 Hist. Goody Two-Shoes i. (1881) 5 Until the Estate by Marriage and by Death came into the Hands of Sir Timothy. 1887 Baring-Gould Gaverocks I. xviii. 257 Stanbury..belongs to us. It came through my mother. |
9. a. of events, casualties, kinds of fortune, etc. = To happen or occur to, to befall.
| Beowulf 23 (Gr.) Þonne wiᵹ cume leode ᵹelæsten. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 15 Þet al þas wrake is icumen ouer alle þeode. c 1300 Beket 1088 For him was to cominge sorwe ynouȝ. 1406 E.E. Wills (1882) 13 Yef ought come to Thomas Roos. c 1450 Guy Warw. (C.) 4944 And euyll chawnce came to vs ryght. 1611 Bible Eccl. ix. 2 All things come alike to all. ― Mark ix. 21. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 182 No more harme comming to either. 1748 Richardson Clarissa (1811) IV. 329 What's come-to mine, that he writes not to my last? 1833 New Monthly Mag. XXXVIII. 334 Ill come..to the false tongue of the deceiver. 1856 J. H. Newman Callista 86, I don't know what has come to the gate since I was here. 1888 M{supc}Carthy & Mrs. C. Praed Ladies' Gallery I. ii. 44 Whatever comes to me, you are safe enough. |
b. In pres. pple., due or properly accruing to one; deservedly falling or happening; esp. in phr. to have it coming (to one), to deserve what one gets or suffers. colloq. (orig. U.S.).
| 1793 in Maryland Hist. Mag. (1911) VI. 356, I am satisfied that there is something considerable comming to me in the Limekills account. 1888 Detroit Free Press 5 May (Farmer), A half-dollar was coming to me in change. 1896 Ade Artie v. 45 You kind o' feel there's a crack comin' to him. 1904 S. E. White Blazed Trail Stories i. 16 Dicky Darrell's got it coming. 1911 R. D. Saunders Col. Todhunter v. 77 Don't you worry about their not getting what's coming to them. 1916 H. L. Wilson Somewhere in Red Gap ix. 375, I got the long night's rest that was coming to me and started out early. 1926 W. S. Maugham Constant Wife ii. 119 I'm for it and I'm prepared to take what's coming to me. 1937 T. Rattigan French without Tears i. 12 Poor Babe. But he had it coming to him. 1957 Economist 28 Dec. 1121/2 Tin Pan Alley, Fundamentalism, and the Man-cult had it coming to them. |
10. of sensuous or mental impressions. a. of sights, sounds, and other sensuous impressions.
| a 1340 Cursor M. 10514 (Cott.) Þi gerning god and þi praier Er cummin vn-to godds ere. a 1450 Knt. de la Tour (1868) 11 There come a vision to her in a night. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour A vj b, A voys cam sayeng..make clene this plater. 1562 Turner Herbal ii. 141 b, Other kindes..of the gardin smilax then have cummed to my syght. 1832 Tennyson Mariana in South viii, There came a sound as of the sea. 1849 Tait's Mag. XVI. 171/1 A knock came to his door. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 432 The same dream came to me sometimes in one form, and sometimes in another. |
b. of thoughts, notions, and the like. to come into one's head: to occur to one. Also to come to one's knowledge.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 6602 (Cott.) Ne neuer come it yow in thoght. Ibid. 28332 Quen idel thoght me come and vain. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxxiv. 155 It coome to my mynde. 1483 Cath. Angl. 72 To Come to mynde, occurrere. 1680 Bunyan Mr. Badman (1772) 182 The book that he had written came into his mind. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 254 ¶3, I wish it may never come into your Head to imitate those..Creatures. 1726 Swift Gulliver (1869) 216 1 It never came once into my thoughts. 1850 Tait's Mag. XVII. 684/1 A pretty incident..came to his knowledge. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) IV. 257 The truth must often come to a man through others. 1889 Eng. Illust. Mag. Dec. 259 It came into my head to jump aloft. |
** to come from a source, etc.
11. a. as anything from a source: To flow, emanate, be derived from, of.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 308 Þe hali gost comms of hem tua. c 1340 Ibid. 9579 (Fairf.) To hym that þe falshed comyþ fro Ayen to hym let yt go. c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 7 (MS. A.) Surgerie..comeþ, of siros..an hand, & gyros..þat is worchinge in englisch. 1535 Coverdale Ps. lxi[i]. 1 Of him commeth my helpe. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 78 Accommodated, it comes of Accommodo: very good, a good Phrase. 1601 Holland Pliny I. 413 This wine commeth of the grape about the towne Forum Appij. 1791 ‘G. Gambado’ Ann. Horsem. (1809) Pref. 53 Any thing more that comes from the pen of Geoffrey Gambado. 1826 Ann. Reg., Hist. Europe 101/2 The present motion..came from a gentleman of that country. 1879 M. J. Guest Lect. Hist. Eng. xv. 142 Words which come originally from the Latin. |
b. as progeny, offspring, descendants from a parent or ancestor: To descend. Const. of, from.
| c 1250 Hymn Virg. in Trin. Coll. Hom. App. 256 Þu ert icumen of heȝe kunne. a 1300 Cursor M. 2566 Þe sede þat coms o þe. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxiv. 109 Þe folk of Tartre come of þe kynreden of Cham. 1475 Caxton Jason 77 If of Appollo and of mena cam a sone that sone sholde succede to the royame. 1570–6 Lambarde Peramb. Kent (1826) 7 Mankinde that came of the loines of Sem, Cham, and Iapheth. 1640 G. Herbert Jacula Prudentum, He that comes of a hen must scrape. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 526 ¶3 Any young gentleman, who is come of honest parents. 1849 C. Brontë Shirley i, Come of gentle kin. 1878 Scribn. Mag. XV. 583/1, I came from a race of fishers. |
c. as an effect from its cause. Also of (by).
| a 1225 Ancren Riwle 296 Þet muchel kumeð of lutel. c 1300 Cursor M. 27682 (Cott. Galba MS.) Of enuy cummes oft grete grocheing. c 1386 Chaucer Nun's Pr. T. 107 Certes this dreme..Cometh of the grete superfluitee Of youre rede colera parde. 1485 Act 1 Hen. VII, c. 8 The Money coming of or by the said Sale. 1568 Turner Herbal iii. 3 Rotten agues, of which the jaundes is commed. 1580 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 445 Their beautie commeth by nature, yours by art. 1611 Bible Transl. Pref. 1 b, He had not seene any profit to come by any Synode. 1663 Butler Hud. i. i. 758 Sure some Mischief will come of it. 1833 New Monthly Mag. XXXVII. 350 Education comes of more things than books. 1836 A. Fonblanque Eng. under 7 Administr. (1837) III. 286 This comes of having the son of a cotton-spinner for a chief. 1884 W. C. Smith Kildrostan 48 Suspicion murders love, and from its death Come anguish and remorse. Mod. No good could come of it. |
*** to come into (in) a condition or relation.
12. a. To enter or be brought into collision, contact, possession, use, fashion, action, play, force, prominence, opposition, contrast, comparison, etc. (the phrases being sometimes literal, sometimes entirely fig.) See these words.
| 1513 Douglas æneis vi. xiv. 63 O my childring cum nocht in vse to hant Sic fremmyt battellis. 1668 Wilkins Real Char. iv. iv. 434 It may come into comparison with any of the Languages now known. 1825 New Monthly Mag. XIII. 55 A gay and piquant style..came into fashion. 1850 Tait's Mag. XVII. 438/2 That such a law should have come into existence. Ibid. 492/1 Scott and Chalmers..do not appear to have come into contact. Ibid. 544/2 The carbines will come into play. 1865 W. A. Wright in Smith's Dict. Bible (1875) 611/2 The division..into chapters came into use at a later time. Ibid. 614/2 The..Polyglott..came into circulation. 1878 Scribn. Mag. XVI. 480/1 The..property..came into the possession of Mr. Bryant. 1885 Law Rep. Wkly. Notes 146/1 She..came into collision with a steamer. |
b. To come into blossom, ear, flower, etc.: cf. 24.
| 1841 Journ. Roy. Agric. Soc. II. i. 141 Both crops came into ear at the same time. |
**** Absolute uses, with notions of coming into existence, growth, change of state.
13. a. To come into existence, make its appearance; to come above ground or out of the germ, as a plant; to appear on the surface of the body, as hair, a rash, pimple, etc.
| c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 4 (MS. B) Off Aposteme þat comyth on þe sydes. Mod. He sowed turnips, but none of them came. |
b. Of utterance: to issue from the mouth or the pen.
| 1735 Pope Ep. Arbuthnot 128, I lisp'd in numbers, for the numbers came. 1887 Morris Odyss. x. 246 But though for speech he was striving yet never a word would come. |
c. To take (a required) shape.
| 1877 Mrs. Oliphant Young Musgrave x, Mrs. Pennithorne..failed entirely with Mary's frock. It would not ‘come’ as she wanted it to come. 1896 Daily News 5 Nov. 7/1 The Venus was..too stunted, and when..the painter attempted to drape her, the result would not ‘come’ well. |
d. To belong to some recognized type, to exist. Freq. in phr. as ― as they come, i.e. as ― as such (types) are known to exist.
| 1919 F. Hurst Humoresque 64 And you're a good man—they don't come no better. 1925 New Yorker 21 Feb. 22/1 A play as nearly perfect as they come. 1936 Wodehouse Laughing Gas v. 62 It's his sister Beulah. She was the one who put him up to it. She's the heavy in the sequence. As tough as they come. 1954 C. P. Snow New Men 280 If you want a competent administrator I expect he's as good as they come. |
14. a. Of grain in Malting: To germinate, put forth the radicle. [Here there is some connexion with come n.2, and Ger. keimen: perh. a distinct verb cōme has fallen together with this.]
| ? c 1400 Chalmerlan Ayr xxvi. Sc. Stat. I. 693 Item þat þai lat jt akyrspire..quhare it aw bot to chip and cum at þe tane end. 1483 [see coming vbl. n.2 1]. 1577 Harrison England ii. vi. (1877) i. 156 To shoote at the root end, which maltsters call Comming. When it beginneth tharefore to shoot in this maner, theie saie it is come. 1584 T. Hudson Judith (1611) 13 (Jam.) Oft turning corne..least it do sproute or feede, Or come againe. 1616 Surfl. & Markh. Country Farm 105 Raw Malt when it is almost readie to goe to the Kilne, and as the Husbandman saith, is only well comed. 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. (1681) 54 Let Pease be taken and steeped in as much Water as will cover them, till they Swell and Come, and be so ordered as Barley is for Maulting. 1725 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Malt, To make the Barley Come even in the Couch. |
b. Of seeds: to germinate when sown; hence, to grow.
| 1892 Field 7 May 665/3 The barley had come remarkably well, and had shot about an inch high. |
15. Butter is said to come, when it forms in the churn; so cheese-curd, jellies, etc., when they form.
| [1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. (1586) 147 About a two or three houres after you have put in your Rennet, the Milke commeth to a Curd.] 1641 J. Jackson True Evang. T. i. 7 Not to churne the sincere milk thereof till butter come, nor to wring the nose of it till bloud come. 1796 H. Glasse Cookery xxii. 354 Put in two spoonfuls of rennet, and when it is come, break it a little. 1858 Mrs. Stowe Minister's Wooing I. 2 She can always step over to distressed Mrs. Smith, whose jelly won't come. 1884 Harper's Mag. Mar. 520/2 On churning days the butter refused to come. 1884 Holland Chesh. Gloss. s.v., The curd is said to come when it coagulates; and butter is said to come when it separates from the milk in churning. |
† 16. Of persons: To yield, be favourably moved. (Cf. come about, come round, come to, and coming ppl. a. 2.) Obs.
| 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. ii. ii. 125 Oh, to him, to him wench: he will relent, Hee's comming: I perceiue't. 1605 B. Jonson Volpone ii. iii, Corv. [aside] In the point of honour, The cases are all one, of wife and daughter. Mos. [aside] I heare him comming. |
17. To experience sexual orgasm. Also with off. slang.
| a 1650 Walking in Meadow Green in Bp. Percy's Loose Songs (1868) Then off he came, & blusht for shame soe soone that he had endit. 1714 Cabinet of Love, Just as we came, I cried, ‘I faint! I die!’ c 1888–94 My Secret Life III. 143 ‘Shove on,’ said she, ‘I was just coming.’ 1922 Joyce Ulysses 489 Suppose you..came too quick with your best girl. Ibid. 752 Yet I never came properly till I was what 22. 1928 D. H. Lawrence Lady Chatt. x. 159 ‘We came off together that time,’ he said. Ibid. xiv. 242 And when I'd come and really finished, then she'd start on her own account. 1963 D. Lessing Man & Two Women 35 Just as he decided, Right, it's enough, now I shall have her properly; she made him come. 1969 P. Roth Portnoy's Complaint 183 Did you warn her you were going to shoot, or did you just come off and let her worry? |
III. Of arrival in order, time, or course of events.
* Of reaching a point or stage of proceedings. (Said of a voluntary agent.)
18. To arrive at or reach in the course of orderly treatment. Const. to, at, or inf.
| a 1200 Moral Ode 157 in Trin. Coll. Hom. 224 Ich wulle nu cumen eft to þe dome ich eow ar of sade. 1544 Latimer Wks. (Parker Soc.) II. 438 Begin at his birth, and go forth until ye come at his burial. 1581 J. Bell Haddon's Answ. Osor. 258, I come now to y⊇ pynche of my true defence. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. 3 In this Treatise we will come to the Sea-Compass. 1687 Burnet Contn. Refl. Varillas 121 Our Author is always unhappy, when he comes to particulars. 1722 De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 253 When I come to consider that part more narrowly. 1781 Ann. Reg., Acc. of Bks. 200/2 We now come to the reign of Queen Mary. 1874 Stubbs Const. Hist. Eng. I. iv. 68 Until we come to ages in which we have clearer data. 1884 Gladstone in Standard 29 Feb. 2/7, I now come to the third of these great problems. |
19. To advance, proceed, or attain to, as an end or natural result. Occas. with indirect pass.
| 1475 Caxton Jason 20 b, I hope to come to thaboue of myn enterpryse. 1545 R. Ascham Toxoph. i. (Arb.) 97 They knewe not whyche way to houlde to comme to shootynge. 1707 Freind Peterborow's Cond. Sp. 13 They are come to this unanimous Resolution. 1728 De Foe Carleton (1809) 3 To avoid coming to a battle for the present. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones vii. xii, They soon came to a right understanding. 1827 Scott Tales Grandf. Ser. i. viii, These two haughty barons came to high and abusive words. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 556 To fear that the two parties would come to blows. 1876 Freeman Norm, Conq. II. App. 678 A compromise was come to. |
** Of the arrival of time.
20. a. Of time or portions of time: To be present, to arrive in due course.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 45 A þet cume domes-dei. c 1340 Cursor M. 12830 (Trin.) He knew þe tyme come þat he wolde haue bapteme nome. 1382 Wyclif 1 Pet. v. 1 That glorye, that is to be schewid in tyme to comynge. a 1400 Stac. Rome 750 in Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1866) 140 Whan the soneday is I-come. 1480 in Acta Dom. Concilii 69 (Jam.) The lordis assignis to Patric Ramsay Monunday that next cummys. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 218 When bed tyme came, the king went to his bed. 1597 Daniel Civ. Wares viii. lxiii, The morning being com'n (and glad he was That it was com'n). 1663 F. Hawkins Youths Behav. 85 When two Sundayes come together. 1726 Swift Gulliver (1869) 211/1 When..the day came for my departure, I took leave of my master. 1833 New Monthly Mag. XXXVIII. 390 The time must come, and will come quickly. |
b. come day, go day: applied to the conduct or character of one who is content to let time pass by without effort or trouble. Also as n. orig. dial.
| 1616 T. Draxe Bibliotheca Scholastica 97/1 Come day, goe day, the day is long enough. 1854 A. E. Baker Gloss. Northampt. I. 175 It's come day, go day, with him. 1865 B. Brierley Irkdale I. 25 A jolly, come-day, go-day fellow..he never saved a farthing in his life. 1876 Whitby Gloss., Come day, Gan day, God send Sunday, the saying..of indolent workers, who care not how the days come and go, provided they have little to do. 1903 McNeill Egregious Eng. 174 The come-day, go-day Englishman. 1928 Manch. Guardian Weekly 22 June 494/2 Young Joe carried on in his come-a-day go-a-day God-send-Sunday manner. 1933 J. Masefield Bird of Dawning 227 Here are these four come-day-go-days wants to see you, sir. 1953 H. Spring Sunset Touch 12 Come-day-go-day people who had no solidity or substance. |
*** Of the arrival in time, or in the course of events, of things or involuntary agents.
21. Of an event: To come about, happen, turn out; esp. quasi-impers. with subject clause; = next.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 13131 Til it com on a fest dai, Þat king herod did for to call Þe barnage. 1535 Coverdale 1 Sam. i. 4 Whan it came vpon a daye that Elcana offred. 1548 Hall Chron. 186 How commeth this that there are so many Newe Testamentes abrode? 1603 Philotus xciv, All things ar cumde for the best. 1607 Shakes. Cor. iii. i. 275 How com'st that you haue holpe To make this rescue? 1837 Carlyle Diam. Necklace iv, And then the exasperating Why? The How came it? |
22. a. to come to pass: to happen, take place in the course of events, come about, occur, be fulfilled.
| 1481 Caxton Reynard (Arb.) 108 The wulf..threw the foxe al plat under hym, which cam hym evyl to passe. 1526 Tindale Matt. xxiv. 6 All these thinges must come to passe, but the ende is not yet. 1563 Homilies ii. Idolatry (1859) 202 You may see that cummen to pass which Bishop Serenus feared. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. ii. vi. §13 Therefore the event may not come to pass, and yet the Prophet be a true Prophet. 1718 Hickes J. Kettlewell i. v. 20 Which accordingly came to pass. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 335 The change which has come to pass in the cities. |
b. quasi-impers. with subject clause. arch.
| 1526 Tindale Luke v. 1 It came to passe..that he stoode by the lake of Genezareth. 1535 Coverdale Tobit iv. 7 So shal it come to passe, that the face of the Lorde shal not be turned awaye from the. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. lxix. §3 How it cometh to pass that one day doth excel another. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 128 ¶10 By this means it comes to pass, that the Girls look upon their Father as a Clown. 1726 Swift Gulliver (1869) 155/2 To know..how it came to pass that people were so violently bent upon getting into this assembly. |
23. a. Of things which arrive or take place in time.
Here belong such phrases as, his turn came, it came his turn, or to his turn to do something: see turn.
| c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 59 Adueniat regnum tuum, Cume þi riche we seggeð hit. 1388 Wyclif Coloss. ii. 17 Schadewe of thingis to comynge. 1616 Pasquil & Kath. i. 62 When the Lord my Fathers Audit comes. 1625 Bacon Ess. Gardens (Arb.) 556 For March, There come Violets. 1651 Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxvi. 144 One Judge passeth, another commeth. 1732 Arbuthnot Rules of Diet 415 For the longer the Eruption is a coming and the smaller when it comes the Disease is less dangerous. 1878 Scribn. Mag. XV. 116/1 After the dinner came the reception. Ibid. 776/1 It came to Janet's turn. |
b. Of commodities, etc.: to be available or on sale, esp. in a particular size, colour, etc.
| 1937 [see assorted ppl. a.] 1986 Sunday Express Mag. 27 Apr. 48 They come in a choice of two designs ‘Vittoria’ or ‘Canasta’ in 5 beautiful colourways. |
24. a. To be brought in the course of events; to grow, arrive at, attain to (a specified state or stage). Sometimes impers. ‘it comes to’. Hence many idiomatic phrases; e.g. to come to, in, on place: to take place. See come to, 48.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 5070 (Gött.), I tald a drem Þat comen es nou to gode. c 1320 Seuyn Sages (W.) 1195 Is hit comen therto, We sscholle be departed so. c 1450 Guy Warw. (C.) 4427 Tyll hyt came to darke nyght Euyn they folowed me ryght. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531), Vnto the tyme they come to the yeres of discrecyon. 1609 Skene Reg. Maj. 94 Quhen it is cum to the giving of the sentence. 1611 Bible Job xiv. 21 His sonnes come to honour. 1687 Burnet Contn. Refl. Varillas 143 She bore him several children, but one Daughter only came to Age. 1758 Binnell Descr. Thames 254 He comes to his full Growth in a Year. 1793 B. Edwards Col. W. Ind. (1794) II. iv. 12 The trees that come soonest to perfection. 1833 New Monthly Mag. XXXVII. 165 Is it come to this? 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 231 If any of his deeds come to light. 1879 M. J. Guest Lect. Hist. Eng. l. 508 He becomes..cautious when it comes to meteors and comets. 1889 Cornh. Mag. Dec. 568 Why should Dick have come to harm? |
b. with dat. infin. to come to do, be, etc. Phr. (when one) come(s) to think of it, when one considers, remembers; on reflection.
| 1563–87 Foxe A. & M. viii. 327 He came to understand that. 1590 Sir. J. Smyth Disc. Weapons Sign. **, The same Saxons..themselves came after to be conquered by the Danes. 1629 H. Burton Babel no Bethel 86 How comes then M. Cholmeley to be thus egregiously deceiued? 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Voy. xxxv. §3 When any exhalation comes to dissolve in the air. 1692 Bentley Boyle Lect. viii. 265 But how came the Sun to be Luminous? 1838 R. H. Froude Remains II. xiv. 179 When one comes to think of it abstractedly, it seems hardly conceivable, that any person should be so blind. 1842 Tait's Mag. IX. 246/1 She..liked [him] more and more as she came to know him. 1859 Faber Spir. Confer. 180 Perhaps an abrupt transition: but not so, when you come to think of it. 1875 L. M. Alcott Eight Cousins xii. 134 Come to think of it, she's only two years or so younger than I am. 1885 Act 48 & 49 Vict. c. 76 Pream., The River Thames..has come to be largely used as a place of public recreation and resort. 1889 K. S. Macquoid R. Ferron I. 54 How came you to be up so early? 1913 ‘S. Rohmer’ Myst. Dr. Fu-Manchu xviii. 199 ‘No,’ he returned reflectively; ‘come to think of it, neither did I.’ 1926 R. Macaulay Crewe Train x. 196 Come to think of it, we've had a heavy day house-moving. 1927 C. Asquith Black Cap 100 What was printed there, staring up at her, was really very sad, come to think of it! 1943 E. M. Almedingen Frossia ii. 59 Come to think of it, I never knew why I married Hugo. |
25. With complement (pa. pple., adj., or † sb.). a. To become, get to be (in some condition).
Often expressing passage from one condition into another, as in ‘to come untied’.
| c 1340 Cursor M. 11615 (Fairf.) Þen come þe propheci alle clere Þat spokin was of þat childe dere. a 1592 Greene & Lodge Looking Gl. Wks. (1861) 127 Tell me how this man came dead. 1593 R. Bancroft Dang. Positions iv. vii. 156 How Coppinger and Arthington came acquainted with Hacket. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, ii. iii. 57 So came I a Widow. 1606 ― Tr. & Cr. i. ii. 132 How came it clouen? 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 563 Say, How cam'st thou speakable of mute. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. II. 238 She had had the good fortune to come acquainted with a pious Christian. 1837 Dickens Pickw. xxii, The brown-paper parcel had ‘come untied’. 1889 A. Lang Pr. Prigio xvii. 136 Lo and behold! each knight came alive, with his horse. 1889 Mrs. J. H. Riddell P'cess Sunshine I. iv. 71 All would come right between her and her old friends. |
b. To prove in the issue, event, or experience; to turn out to be.
| 1862 Trench Mirac. Introd. 5 When that ‘sign’ comes true. 1878 Scribn. Mag. XVI. 476/2 It will come very cheap to you. 1889 Mrs. H. L. Cameron Lost Wife I. i. 9 Poverty comes hard upon the old. 1889 Mrs. Oliphant Poor Gentleman III. iv. 62 It may come easier afterwards. 1889 M. Caird Wing of Azrael III. xxxviii. 194 In point of fact, my dear..you come rather expensive. |
c. For individual idioms, e.g. to come true, to come natural, etc., see true, etc. to come clean: see clean a. 3 g; come hell and high water: see hell n.
d. colloq. fig. phr. to come undone, come unput, come unstuck: to become disintegrated, ‘fall to pieces’, meet with disaster, come to grief.
| 1899 Sketch 1 Nov. 84/1 The Oban ‘boom’ came badly undone... But let us suppose Oban had won, what would the other owners with horses in the race have said about the handicap? 1911 Kipling Diversity of Creatures (1917) 70 ‘Don't apologise,’ said Gilbert, when the paroxysm ended. ‘I'm used to people coming a little—unstuck in this room.’ 1915 C. G. Grey Tales Flying Services 35 One of them [sc. seaplanes]..had just alighted astern, and was ‘taxying’ along to pick up her own boom when somehow the last remaining bomb ‘came unput’—as one who was present said—and fell into the water. 1922 N. & Q. 9 Sept. 207/2 When a fancied horse, thought to be ‘a good thing’, fails to realize expectations, it is said to be ‘a good thing come undone’. 1928 Sunday Express 3 June 11/3 Soon after this I came unstuck over a horse which the Prince of Wales, later King Edward, had very kindly given me. 1928 Observer 29 July 19/2 But with freak distributions of cards which justify high bidding, doubles that look sound often come ‘unstuck’. 1928 Daily Express 12 Nov. 12, I thought my theory had come unstuck. 1936 Punch 14 Oct. 439/2 He had his chances, but no luck; He always managed to come unstuck. 1957 J. I. M. Stewart Use of Riches i. ix. 109 Here, in fact, was divorce-court stuff—call it the sort of situation that may develop with anyone once things come unstuck. 1958 Listener 16 Oct. 600/1 This is where the theory comes unstuck. 1970 Guardian 11 May 10/1 It is disturbing that on this occasion Mr. Nixon should have come so unstuck. |
IV. To become, belong.
† 26. To become, be becoming or appropriate (to), belong or pertain to, befit. (L. convenire.) Obs.
| 1297 R. Glouc. (1724) 420 ‘Ne wep noȝt’ he sede..vor yt ne comþ noȝt to þe [v.r. Hit by cometh nat the]. a 1400 Life Cuthbert (MS. Trin. Coll. Oxf. 57) No suche idell games it ne cometh [1290 Laud MS. bi-cometh] the to worche. a 1400–50 Alexander 627 It come noȝt a kyng son..to sytt Doune in margon & molle emange othire schrewis. Ibid. 3974 It comes to na kyng..To latt his pepill þus pas & perisch in ydill. c 1400 Destr. Troy 2181 Hit shuld come you by course, as of kynd childer, To be sory for my sake. a 1529 Skelton Agst. Garnesche Wks. II. 129 It cumys the better for to dryue A dong cart or a tumrelle. Ibid. 101 Yt commyth the wele me to remorde. a 1670 Hacket Abp. Williams i. (1692) 118 That which comes to the institute I handle was thus endicted. |
V. come and go.
27. come is often used in association with go, to contrast or include the two motions or results. a. To come to a place and depart again, whether for once, or with repetition; to pass to and fro.
| 1382 Wyclif Mark vi. 31 There weren manye that camen, and wenten aȝen [1611 There were many comming and going]. 1434 Jas. I Let. in Harding's Chron. (1812) p. vii, Lettres of..sauf condute saufely to comme and go to our presence. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 128 It was agreed that..the Citizens of London should come and go toll free. 1598 Shakes. Merry W. ii. ii. 130 Hee may come and goe betweene you both. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. ii. vi. §29 What solemn Festivalls people may come and goe of. 1864 Tennyson Grandmother xx, She comes and goes at her will. |
b. To be first present and then absent; to approach and recede; to appear and disappear alternately; also of time, to arrive and pass.
| c 1340 Cursor M. 1851 (Fairf.) Til vij skores dayes ware comme and gan. c 1400 Sowdone Bab. 1631, vj dayes be comyn and goon. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie i. xxiv. (Arb.) 62 For worldly goods they come and go, as things not long proprietary to any body. 1595 Shakes. John iv. ii. 76 The colour of the King doth come, and go Betweene his purpose and his conscience. a 1600 ‘Hempe’ prophecy in Whole Prophecies Scotl. (1615). When Hempe is come and also gone, Scotland and England shall be all one. 1627 Drayton Moon-calf Wks. 1753 II. 492 After many years were com'n and gone. 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1840) II. vi. 141 His colour came and went. 1833 Tennyson Fatima iii, My swift blood that went and came. 1849 Tait's Mag. XVI. 299/1 Night's shadows come and go. |
c. fig. To exercise liberty of action.
| 1864 Burton Scot Abr. I. ii. 99 There being thus, in titles..considerable room to come and go upon. |
d. In various proverbs and phrases.
| 15.. Debate Carpenter's Tools in Halliw. Nugæ P. 13 That lyghtly cum schall lyghtly go. 1660 Charac. Italy 13 The old Proverb, Male parta, male dilabuntur, Badly come, badly go. 1833 New Monthly Mag. XXXVIII. 192 ‘Lightly come, lightly go,’ is his maxim. |
e. Phr. not to know whether (or if) one is coming or going: to be in a state of mental confusion.
| 1924 R. Crothers Nice People ii. i. 122 I've fallen in with some awfully nice people and I don't mind telling you I don't know whether I'm coming or going. 1951 J. B. Priestley Fest. Farbridge ii. i. 183 There's nobody at the Town Hall could take it on. Town Clerk doesn't know whether he's coming or going. 1959 B. Kops Hamlet of Stepney Green i. 23 What with one thing and another, I don't know if I'm coming or going. |
VI. quasi-trans. uses. [The object is usually an adverbial accusative.]
28. to come it (slang): to ‘come out with it’, in various senses: see quots.
| c 1690 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Has he come it? has he lent it you? 1812 J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Come it, to divulge a secret..they say of a thief who has turned evidence against his accomplices, that he is coming all he knows, or that he comes it as strong as a horse. 1873 Slang Dict. s.v., Also, in pugilistic phraseology, to come it means to show fear; and in this respect, as well as in that of giving information, the expression ‘come it’ is best known to the lower and most dangerous classes. |
29. a. To act, to practise, to perform one's part; as in to come it strong, etc. slang and colloq.
| 1812 [see prec.]. 1825 New Monthly Mag. XIII. 546 Can't you come it melancholy? 1825 C. M. Westmacott Eng. Spy I. 86 Or in a stanhope come it strong. 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick. xxiii, I can come it pretty well—nobody better, perhaps, in my own line. 1854 De Quincey Casuistry Rom. Meals Wks. III. 250 But it was coming it too strong to allow no tobacco. 1888 M{supc}Carthy & Mrs. Praed Ladies' Gallery I. ii. 48 That is coming it a little too strong. |
b. To play or practise (a dodge or trick), esp. over any one; to ‘come over’ him (see 46 f) with that dodge. slang and colloq.
| 1785 Grose Dict. Vulg. Tongue, To come Yorkshire over any one, to cheat him. 1855 Thackeray Newcomes II. 253 Barnes is trying to come the religious dodge. 1865 J. Hutton Bitter Sweets xxii, Don't come that dodge over me. 1873 Slang Dict. s.v., Don't come tricks here. |
c. To play, act the part of. Const. over a person, i.e. at his expense, or so as to get the better of him. So to come it with any one; to come it over (a person); to come the acid: see acid B. n. 3; to come the old soldier: see soldier n. 2 b. slang or colloq.
| 1827 Mil. Sketch-Bk. I. 30 Tickerly the guards: they try to come it over us venhever they have a tunity; but I'll let them know vhat's vhat. 1837 Dickens Pickw. xliv, That man, sir..has comic powers that would do honour to Drury Lane Theatre..Hear him come the four cats in the wheelbarrow. 1837 Dickens Sk. Boz ii. 24 The inimitable manner in which Bill Thompson can come the double monkey. 1841 J. T. J. Hewlett Parish Clerk II. 173 Suspecting that he was..‘coming the deep file’ over him. 1850 Tait's Mag. XVII. 691/1 If you try to come the bully over me. 1850 Kingsley Alt. Locke xiii, He intends to come the Mirabeau—fancies his mantle has fallen on him. 1861 Dickens Gt. Expect. vii, Your sister comes the Mogul over us, now and again. 1867 Trollope Claverings II. i. 4 Miss Burton had been received..openly as Harry's future wife, and, ‘by Jove, you know, he can't be coming it with Julia after that, you know.’ 1889 E. Randolph New Eve II. viii. 23 He might..be inclined to come the gentleman, and pay for the same. 1890 Philips & Wills Sybil Ross's Marriage xviii. 126 It's no use a-trying to come it with me. 1916 J. Buchan Greenmantle i. 1 You'll be a blighted brass-hat, coming it heavy over the hard-working regimental officer. 1925 Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 61 To come it (to come the old soldier, to come the old man), to attempt to shirk something. To try to bluff someone. Also, to be domineering. 1930 ‘R. Crompton’ William's Happy Days ix. 222 ‘Thinks he can come it over me,’ muttered the lady angrily. ‘'Im an' 'is dukes!’ 1930 R. Macaulay Staying with Relations xx. 292 The British working man resents any attempt to come the parson over him. 1934 G. B. Shaw On Rocks i. 190 If you are going to come this metaphysical rot over me I shall begin to wonder whether your appointment wasnt a mistake. 1935 Wodehouse Luck of Bodkins xi. 108 I'm not proposing to let any bimbo come the man of chilled steel over me just because I happen to kiss an old friend. 1939 A. Huxley After many a Summer i. viii. 98 When he saw..that no attempt was being made to come it over him, he had begun to take an interest. 1939 H. G. Wells Holy Terror iii. i. 207 The world's had this apostolic succession of oily old humbugs..trying to come it over people. 1962 C. Watson Hopjoy was Here ix. 96, I never thought he'd come the old green-eyed monster. 1962 Spectator 13 Apr. 467 Fancied he could come the old bland condescension over Erpf. 1969 Private Eye 25 Apr. 12 Now look here Eric don't come the raw prawn with me. 1970 D. Halliday Dolly & Cookie Bird iii. 34 The great sentimental idiot, coming that over me. |
30. a. To attain to, reach, achieve. Also to come it. dial. and colloq.
| 1825 Spirit of Public Jrnls. M.DCCC.XXIII 27, I wish this fellow to say how he got hold o' my checque for three hundred..let him come that, and I shall be satisfied. 1840 Hard Cider Press (U.S.) 10 Oct. 2/1 Kent has come it... Kent has Kracked the Krown of King Martin in Maine. 1840 Haliburton Clockm. III. 105, I couldn't come it. 1849 C. Lanman Alleghany Mts. xi. 89 The fellers laughed at me and said I couldn't come it. 1866 J. C. Gregg Life in Army xv. 141 Feeling secure from their voracious bills, as they hum around your room, and try to ‘come it’, but find an abatis in their way. 1888 Berksh. Gloss. s.v., ‘I can't quite come that’ (= that is beyond me). 1888 in W. Somerset Word-bk. 1908 Dialect Notes III. 300 He tried hard, but he couldn't quite come it. |
b. to come a cropper, come a colcher (colloq.): see cropper, colsh.
31. to come or be coming six, etc.: to be in one's sixth year of age. Said esp. of horses, or the like, for which rising is now the usual phrase.
| 1675 Lond. Gaz. No. 1008/4 Brownish bay Gelding about 14 hands high, coming seven years old. 1682 Ibid. No. 1766/4 She is in Fole, and cometh six. 1778 Learning at a Loss I. 58 A young Fellow as I am, just coming four and twenty. 1858–65 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. I. vi. iii. 161 Wilhelmina, now a slim maiden coming nineteen. Ibid. III. ix. vii. 130 Princess Elizabeth..age eighteen coming. |
32. to come any one thanks: to tender thanks. (Here come may be a perversion of con.) Now dial.
| c 1449 Pecock Repr. v. xv. 563 And thei wolen not come her thankis. 1883 Huddersfield Gloss. s.v. Cum thank, ‘I cum ye no thank’, I acknowledge no thanks to you. [So elsewhere in mod. dialects.] |
VII. Special uses of certain parts of the verb.
33. to come, the dative infinitive [OE. to cumenne], is used (like F. à venir): a. predicatively, after vb. to be. [This construction does not differ from that found with other verbs, as in ‘he is to go’, ‘we are to speak’, etc.]
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Matt. xi. 3 Eart þu þe to cumenne eart? c 1205 Lay. 16037 Of þire mucle kare þa þe is to cumene [c 1275 þat þe is comene]. 1388 Wyclif 1 Tim. iv. 8 That hath a biheest of lijf that now is, and that is to come [1382 and to comynge]. 1611 Bible ibid., Promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come. 1678 Bunyan (title), The Pilgrim's Progress from this world to that which is to come. 1697 Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 566 He sees what is, and was, and is to come. 1710 Lond. Gaz. No. 4637/4 'Tis Leasehold, and twenty two Years to come. 1889 Philips & Wills Fatal Phryne I. iii. 61 All their troubles were to come. |
b. attributively (after n.) = That is to come, coming, future.
| 1382 Wyclif Matt. iii. 7 Who shewide to ȝou for to flee fro wrath to cumme [v.r. comynge; 1388 that is to come]. c 1400 Apol. Loll. 5 In þis tyme, and in tyme to come. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 4 Shadowes of thynges to come. 1526 Tindale Hebr. vi. 5 The power of the worlde to come [Wyclif, the world to comynge]. 1611 Bible Ex. xiii. 14 When thy sonne asketh thee in time to come. 1763 Crabbe Village ii. 194 Oh! make the Age to come thy better care. 1827 Pollok Course T. v, Unwelcome earnest of the woe to come. 1874 Mrs. Hollings First Impres. ii. 15 Bright dreams of happiness yet to come. |
c. absol. The future. [In Shakes. not clearly n.]
| 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen, IV, i. iii. 108 Past, and to Come, seemes best; things Present, worst. 1623 Lisle ælfric on O. & N.T. Ded., How of all things the Summe Shewes joy in thee, for present and to come. 1821 Shelley Hellas, The present, and the past, and the to-come. 1839–48 Bailey Festus v. 43 It is fear which beds the far to-come with fire. 1840 Mrs. Browning Drama of Exile Poems 1850 I. 59 Scorning the Past and damning the To come. |
(β) to coming, in late ME, was app. a confusion of cumenne, comen, with the vbl. n. coming.
| 1382 Wyclif 1 Tim. vi. 19 A good foundement into tyme to comynge. c 1400 Beryn 347 This nyȝte þat is to comyng. c 1430 Hymns Virg. (1867) 81 And so is it þat is to comyng ȝit. 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 239/1 The first fruyte of the to comyng haruest. 1490 ― Eneydos (E.E.T.S.) 4 My tocomynge naturell and souerayn Lord. |
34. a. come, the imperative, (beside its ordinary use as an invitation to approach or join the speaker) is used as an invitation or encouragement to action, usually along with or on the side of the speaker.
| c 1000 Ags. Gosp. Luke xx. 14 Her ys se yrfeweard..cumaþ uton hine ofslean. a 1300 Cursor M. 2030 (Cott.) Cum, broiþer, here and se. 1382 Wyclif Mark xii. 7 This is the eier; come ȝe, sle we him. c 1460 Towneley Myst. 44 Com kys us bothe. 1526 Tindale Mark xii. 7 Come let vs kyll hym. 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. v. i. 114 Come go, I will fall prostrate at his feete. 1616 Pasquil & Kath. v. 69 Come, Brabant, giue me my Cloke. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. 16 Come my hearts, have up your Anchor that we may have a good Prize. Come, Who say Amen. 1803 Scott ‘Bonnie Dundee’, Come fill up my cup, come fill up my can, Come saddle my horses and call out my men. |
b. As a call or appeal to a person to bethink himself, implying impatience, remonstrance, or, more usually, mild protest or deprecation on the speaker's part. Often emphasized by repetition, or by the addition of such words as now, then, but.
| c 1340 Cursor M. App. ii. 823 Come þou art mys-bileuyd. 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. i. ii. 68 Come Dromio, come, these iests are out of season. 1603 ― Meas. for M. ii. i. 119 Come: you are a tedious foole. 1671 Milton Samson 1708 Come, come, no time for lamentation now. 1688 S. Penton Guardian's Instr. 41 Come, come, act like a man. 1722 De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 160 Come, come, colonel, says he, don't flatter me. 1825 New Monthly Mag. XIII. 422 Oh! oh! come now, softly. It is not fair. 1838 Dickens O. Twist xvi, Come, come, Sikes..we must have civil words. 1887 Curtois Tracked II. xxv. 273 ‘Oh, come, now..that's rather strong, you know.’ |
35. come, the present conj., is used in such phrases as ‘come what may, or will’ [cf F. vienne que vienne, It. venga che venga, Ger. es komme was da will!], ‘come weal, come woe’. Also in ‘come what might, or would’, where the sense is past. how come?: see how adv.
| 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. 77 They will to all kinde of wanton pastimes..with come that come will. [a 1677 Barrow Serm. (1686) III. 328 Say what you can, let what will come on it.] 1790 Burns My Nanie viii, Come weel, come woe, I care na by. 1843 Browning Blot in 'Sc. i. iii. IV. 21 Come what come will, You have been happy. 1881 Saintsbury Dryden 187 Follow out that scheme, come wind, come weather. 1888 Mrs. J. H. Riddell Nun's Curse II. v. 100 Come weal, come woe, I shall not trouble you. |
36. a. come, the present conj., is used with a future date following as subject, as in Fr. dix-huit ans vienne la Saint-Martin,—viennent les Pâques, ‘eighteen years old come Martinmas,—come Easter’; i.e. let Easter come, when Easter shall come. arch. and dial.
| a 1420 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. (Roxb.) 29 Twenty yere come Estren. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. iii. 17 Come Lammas Eue at night shall she be fourteene. 1799 Southey Eng. Eclog. vii, Come Candlemas, and I have been their servant For five-and-forty years. 1839 Longfellow Hyperion ii. (1882) 16 It all happened four years ago, come Christmas. 1883 Lloyd Ebb & Flow II. 21 For twenty years come Michaelmas. 1888 Mrs. J. H. Riddell Nun's Curse II. vii. 135 You'll grant me a seven years' lease come next May twelve-month. |
b. Also with an interval of time (week, month, year, etc.) following and qualifying a date, as in ‘Thursday come fortnight’, where the literary language now has ‘Thursday fortnight’, but the full phrase is retained dialectally.
| 1417 in E.E. Wills (1882) 39 He schele Haue..xv. li. at Esteren next, and x li at Esteren come twelmonthe. 1478 in Acta Dom. Concilii 20 (Jam.) On Monunday come aucht dais. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 308 The thirde Million, to be payde..at Mighelmas come a yere after the agreement. 1631 Rutherford Lett. No. 18 (1862) I. 76 Our Communion is on Sabbath come eight days. 1640 Ho. Com. Order in Rushw. iii. (1692) I. 141 Ordered, That the business..be put off till Thursday come fortnight. 1692 Ord. City Lond. 19 June in Entick London (1766) IV. 231 On Thursday next come seven-night. 1724 Berkeley Let. 8 Dec., Wks. 1871 IV. 110 Provided you bring my affair..to a complete issue before Christmas day come twelvemonth. Mod. colloq. The lease will expire at Midsummer come a year. Mod. Sc. We expect him on Monday come eight days. |
37. a. coming, pres. pple., used of age: see 31.
b. A response by a servant or any one who is called: = ‘I am coming,’ ‘directly!’
| [a 1300 Floriz & Bl. 573 Clarice..haþ icluped blauncheflur..Quaþ blauncheflur ‘ihc am cominge’, Ac heo hit sede al slepinge.] 1701 Farquhar Sir H. Wildair ii. i, Commend me to a boy and a bell; Coming, coming, sir! Much noise, no attendance, and a dirty room. 1709 Addison Tatler No. 131 ¶9 Coming, Coming, Sir, (said he) with the Air of a Drawer. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones viii. ii, I think I hear somebody call. Coming, coming! |
VIII. With prepositions (and prepositional phrases), in specialized senses.
(For ordinary prepositional constructions see 3.)
38. come across ―. To cross the path of; to meet, meet with; to fall in with by chance. to come across (with): see across A. 2 c.
| 1810 Pike Sources Mississ. i. 20 Saw great sign of elk, but had not the good fortune to come across any of them. 1849 Tait's Mag. XVI. 226/1 The recollection..came across my mind. 1886 F. Harrison Choice Bks. 85, I came across a very curious book. |
39. come at ― (= L. accēdere). † a. To approach; to come to, come so as to be present at. Obs.
| 1000–1537 [see at 12 a]. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour D viij b, Many ladyes and damoysels were come at the weddyng of a maide. 1625 K. Long tr. Barclay's Argenis ii. viii. (1636) 151 Oleodemus..would not come at the Court. 1658–9 Burton's Diary (1828) IV. 42, I will never come at that Committee again. 1737 Whiston Josephus' Hist. iv. viii. §3 This country is then so sadly burnt up that nobody cares to come at it. |
† b. To come into bodily contact or sexual connexion with. Obs.
| 1535 Coverdale Ex. xix. 15 Be ready agaynst the thirde daye, and no man come at his wife. ― Ezek. xliv. 25 They shal come at no deed persone, to defyle them selues. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. (1586) 156 b, After the Catte hath kitned, she commeth no more at the Bucke. a 1641 Bp. R. Montagu Acts & Mon. (1642) 433 Both [men and women] may well heare the reader..but not come at each other. |
c. To get at, reach (with implied effort), get hold of, obtain. (With indirect passive.)
| 1340 [see at 12 c]. 1532 More Confut. Tindale Wks. 695/2 We can neuer come at it withoute the helpe of God. 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. vii. §7 (1681) 128 If they [mice] can come at them, you will have but few left. 1746 Lucas in Phil. Trans. XLIV. 464 They are cheap, easily come at, and prepared by one's self. 1781 Ann. Reg., Chron. 179/1 The defendant, being..abroad, could not be come at. 1832 Blackw. Mag. Jan. 133/1 Lord Brougham's opinion of democracy is hard to come at. 1889 Stevenson Master of B. iii. 64 How to come at the path. |
d. To dart at, make for, attack.
| 1651–7 T. Barker Angling (1820) 20 The Salmon will come at a Gudgeon. 1889 A. Lang Pr. Prigio ix. 65 He rose on a pair of flaming wings, and came right at the prince. |
e. To undertake, to take on, to get up to, to ‘try on’. Austral. and N.Z. slang.
| 1919 Downing Digger Dial. 17 Come at, undertake. 1944 J. H. Fullarton Troop Target 95 Don't come at that, you Wog..bastard. 1949 D. M. Davin Roads from Home iii. 44 Barry won't come at it. 1960 B. Crump Good Keen Man 26 ‘Who'd get up to that sort of thing?’ Jim looked sideways at me. ‘Don't come at it too often,’ he said. 1964 People 16 Dec. 45/1 A chesty little cockney bloke who'd come at anything. 1969 Coast to Coast 1967–68 164, I told you before I wouldn't come at that again. It's too risky. |
40. come by ―. See by prep. 15. † a. To happen to, befall (a person). Obs.
| 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. 717 Bycause they rode forthe lyke foles, so it came by them. |
b. To come near, or within reach of, to get at; hence, to get hold of, become possessed of, obtain, receive. Originally implying effort, but in later use often said of getting things by chance or involuntarily, to meet with. (With indirect passive.)
| c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 296 Alle þat he mot com bie he robbed. c 1350 Will. Palerne 1688 Miȝt we by coyntise com bi tvo skynnes of the breme beres. c 1430 Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 8591 The ring..I may not come therbi. 1526 Tindale Acts xxvii. 16 We..had moche worke to come by a bote. 1531 Elyot Gov. i. x, Greke..is hardest to come by. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 218 It could not be perceyved howe he [Edw. II] came by his death. 1601 Shakes. Twel. N. i. v. 131 Cosin, Cosin, how haue you come so earely by this Lethargie? 1622 Callis Stat. Sewers (1647) 96 That the party so distrained hath a direct remedy to come by his losses. 1739 R. Bull tr. Dedekindus' Grobianus 146 The hindmost man comes ever by the worst. 1866 Kingsley Herew. xv, The rogues have fallen out, and honest men may come by their own. 1883 Buchanan Love me for Ever ii. v. 130 This gold is honestly come by. |
come from ―: see 11.
41. come for ―. To attack. Cf. ‘come at’ (39 d), ‘go for’ (go v. 58 e).
| 1890 Blackw. Mag. CXLVIII. 460/2 With a rush the hawk comes for him and misses. |
42. come into ―. a. See 12.
† b. To accede to, agree to; to fall in with (a proposal); to yield to. Obs.
| 1722 De Foe Plague (1754) 27 The poor People came into it so eagerly. 1725 ― Voy. round World (1840) 19 The rest, who had all opposed me before, came cheerfully into my proposal. 1739 Gray in Gosse Life (1882) 30 The women did not come into it. 1753 J. Collier Art Torment. iii. 219 But be sure to lose this whole day, by coming into no proposal for pleasure. 1828 Sir W. Scott Tales of a Grandfather Ser. i. xxiii. (1841) 78/1 That he ought not to..come into the King's will. |
c. To come into possession of.
| [1772 Town & Country Mag. 23 On his coming into the possession of an estate.] 1833 New Monthly Mag. XXXVIII. 68, I came into a property of one hundred thousand pounds. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 381 A bald little tinker who has just..come into a fortune. 1888 Mrs. J. H. Riddell Nun's Curse II. iii. 51 Now ‘he had come into his own’. |
d. To enter upon (office or power).
| 1820 Examiner No. 617. 83/2 The year in which the Coalition came into power. 1844 Fraser's Mag. XXX. 745/1 The Whigs came into office. |
43. come of ―. a. See 11. b. = Become of.
| 1590 Marlowe Tamburl. ii. iii, What thinks't thou, man, shall come of our attempts? 1849 Thackeray Van. Fair (1856) 320 What has come of Major Dobbin? |
44. come off ―. to come off it: (usu. in imp.) don't go on like that, stop trying to fool me! slang. (Cf. 65 c.)
| 1912 A. M. N. Lyons Clara xxvi. 283 Mrs. de Courcy Allendale requested me to ‘come off it’. 1921 G. B. Shaw Back to Methus. ii. 49, I suppose I shouldn't say cheese it... Do come off it. 1930 W. S. Maugham Cakes & Ale 48 ‘Come off it, Roy,’ I said. ‘I'm too old a bird to be caught with chaff.’ 1942 E. Waugh Put out more Flags iii. 187, ‘I don't know what you mean,’ she said... ‘Oh, come off it,’ he said. Angela came off it. She began to weep. 1948 J. B. Priestley Linden Tree 9 Oh, come off it, I'm not one of your hospital patients. 1969 Listener 3 Apr. 464/2 On which side was the preponderance of wealth, as of men and armaments? Do come off it, Mr. Mansfield. |
45. a. come on ―. = come upon, 51.
| 1549 Compl. Scotl. 6 The iminent dangeir that vas cummand on the realme of France. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 295 Then the kinges battaile came on the Englishe men. 1585 James I, Ess. in Poesie (Arb.) 23 As the Pilgrim..Cumd on the parting of two wayes at night. 1777 Sheridan Sch. Scand. ii. ii, A right to come on any of the endorsers. 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge lxxviii, The popular expression of ‘coming on the parish’. 1850 Tait's Mag. XVII. 478/1 The change had come on them like a shot. 1864 Tennyson En. Ard. 149 Moving homeward [Enoch] came on Annie. |
b. Obs. and dial. for come of.
| a 1677 [see 35]. 1687 Burnet Cont. Refl. Varillas 27, I saw what would come on it, if he would not be at that charge. |
46. come over ―. a. See 3. † b. To exceed, surpass. Obs.
| 1478 Paston Lett. No. 816. III. 225 That comth over the reseytys in my exspenses I have borowd. 1599 Shakes. Much Ado v. ii. 7 M. Will you then write me a Sonnet in praise of my beautie? B. In so high a stile Margaret, that no man liuing shall come ouer it. |
c. To come as an overshadowing or overmastering influence; to take possession of (figuratively). (Connected with the next by the phrase ‘a change has come over him’.) come over with (Shakes.): cf. 7.
| 1599 Shakes. Hen. V, i. ii. 267 How he comes o're vs with our wilder dayes. 1604 ― Oth. iv. i. 20 It comes ore my memorie, As doth the Rauen o're the infectious house: Boading to all. 1714 Jrnl. W. Edmundson Pref. 5 A general Apostacy came over Professed Christians. 1841 Lever C. O'Malley iii, Certain misgivings came over me. 1888 M{supc}Carthy & Mrs. C. Praed Ladies' Gallery II. xi. 180 Sometimes..it comes over me that this is all a piece of acting. 1889 Chamb. Jrnl. 2 Nov. 699/1 That..look once more came over his face. |
d. To overtake, befall, happen to. Phr. what has come over (a person)?, why is (a person) behaving in an unusual way?
| 1836 Blackw. Mag. Mar. 391/1 ‘What's come over our little Fan?’ exclaimed Mark Fairfeld, in a tone of perplexity and vexation. 1848 Mrs. Gaskell Mary Barton i, ‘I'm sorry for the girl, for bad's come over her.’ Ibid. vi, ‘There's a change comed over him..is there not?’ 1857 Buckle Civiliz. I. xiii. 734 [This] showed the change that had come over him. 1888 Farjeon Miser Farebrother II. vii. 96 What had come over Bob? 1909 Galsworthy Silver Box 111, I asked him whatever came over him to do such a thing—and he said it was the drink. He said that he had had too much to drink, and something came over him. |
† e. To overcome, dominate over. Obs.
| 1668 Pepys Diary 20 Jan., Against the French power coming over them or us. |
f. To get the better of by craft, impose upon. colloq. or slang. (With indirect pass.) Cf. 29 b.
| 1822 Scott Pirate iv, Old Jasper Yellowley had been come over by a certain noble Scottish Earl. 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge xx, Not feeling quite certain..whether he might not be ‘coming over her’ with these compliments. 1883 M. E. Mann Parish of Hilby vii. 90 To cross that lady's assumed intention of ‘coming over her’. |
g. To get over. dial.
| 1888 Mrs. R. Jocelyn {pstlg}100,000 versus Ghosts II. iv. 68 It all seems so sudden like, Miss Kate, I can't come over that. |
47. come round ―. To get round, get the better of by craft, circumvent. colloq.
| 1830 tr. Aristoph. 247 How he comes round you with his sophistry! Mod. ‘You can't come round me in that way.’ |
48. come to ―. a. See 3, and other senses passim. † b. To get at, attain, get possession of. Obs.
| c 1314 Guy Warw. (A.) 308 Y loue þing y no may com to. c 1340 Cursor M. 18409 (Trin.) How coom þou to þat gode. 1545 R. Ascham Toxoph. (Arb.) 124 To come to theyr lyuyng. 1586 A. Day Eng. Secretary ii. (1625) 99 It is requisite you prove, either that you had them by chance..or otherwise, that by some gift you came to them. |
c. To succeed in due course to. (Cf. 8 b, 42 c.)
| 1580 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 452 This clemencie did hir maiestie..shew at hir comming to the crowne. 1605 B. Jonson Volpone iii. v, To use his fortune With reverence when he comes to it. 1674 tr. Machiavel's Florentine Hist. i. 34 Urban the Second was now come to the Papacy. 1711 Steele Spect. No. 113 ¶3, I came to my Estate in my Twenty second Year. 1773 Goldsm. Stoops to Conq. 1, What a pity the 'squire is not come to his own. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 13 When he came to the crown. |
d. To amount to (a stated sum or number).
| c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 63 It wole come to sixti þousand mark þat he robbiþ of þe kingis lige men. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxii. 104 Þe somme..commez to fyue hundreth thowsand florenez. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 16 The dayes of the pilgrymage of my lyfe..come not to y⊇ dayes of my forefathers. 1724 De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 72 Let us put it all together, and see what it will come to. 1885 Sir R. Baggallay in Law Times' Rep. LII. 671/1 The proceeds of the sale came to over 5000l. |
e. To amount to in price, to cost.
| 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. iv. 84 In Barbary sir, it cannot come to so much. 1672 Petty Pol. Anat. (1691) 52 The Gallon of Milk comes but to a Farthing. Mod. This pair will come to about a guinea. |
f. fig. To ‘amount to’, be equivalent to, mean. Phr. (if it) come(s) to that, if that is the case; in fact; anyway.
| 1768 Sterne Sent. Journ., Montriul, It comes to the same thing, said I. 1825 New Monthly Mag. XIV. 327 You don't eat any thing. What, is your leg so bad as that comes to? 1825 Waterton Wand. S. Amer. i. 12 It comes nearly to the same thing in the end. 1879 M. J. Guest Lect. Hist. Eng. xix. 178 The first [dispute] really came to the question whether the bishops..were subjects of the king or of the Pope. 1888 M{supc}Carthy & Mrs. C. Praed Ladies' Gallery II. iv. 49, I am not exactly such a pig as that comes to. 1923 J. Manchon Le Slang 90 Come to that, tiens! au fait! 1937 A. Thirkell Summer Half ii. 45, I could have lent him some of my pyjamas, if it comes to that. 1942 Penguin New Writing XII. 84 He was plumb scared of war. Come to that, so am I. 1964 R. Jeffries Embarrassing Death iii. 21 You don't want to be nice for this job—or for any other job, come to that. |
g. To issue or result in, to turn in the end to; in such phrases as to come to much, come to little, come to nought, when all comes to all, if the worst come to the worst, etc.
| 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 233 This voyage..came to nothing. 1611 Bible Hag. i. 9 Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little. 1699 W. Dampier Voy. II. i. i. 14 Nor was it his fault that it came to nothing. 1719 De Foe Crusoe vii. (1720) 123 Not one Grain of that I sow'd this time came to anything. 1814 Jane Austen Mansf. Park (1847) 172 His falling in love with Julia had come to nothing. 1888 F. Warden Witch of Hills II. xvi. 60 If the worst comes to the worst. |
h. come to oneself (one's senses): (a) To recover consciousness; to become conscious again after sleep, a swoon, etc.
| 1340 Ayenb. 128 Ac þanne he heþ y-slepe and comþ to him-zelue. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon iv. 122 She felle doun in a swoune..And whan she was come agen to herselfe. 1586 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. i. (1589) 491 She fell downe amazed: and being come to hir selfe againe, said unto them, etc. 1637 Blunt Voy. Levant 16 The hurt person comming to his senses, cleared me, telling how it came and by whom. 1722 De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 285 When she was come to herself enough to talk again. 1890 S. R. Gardiner in Dict. Nat. Biog. XXII. 319/1 At the news of the execution of Charles I he [Montrose] fainted, and when he came to himself, etc. |
(b) To come to one's right mind, recover from excitement, passion, or self-abandonment.
| 1526 Tindale Luke xv. 17 Then he came to him selfe and sayde, etc. c 1680 Beveridge Serm. (1729) I. 527 Zaccheus..being come unto himself, as soon as Christ was come into his house. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones xviii. ii, But at last, having vented the first torrent of passion, he came a little to himself. 1883 Black Yolande III. vii. 129 The people..may come to their senses. |
i. to come to light (with), to produce, to come up with (money, etc.). Austral. and N.Z. colloq.
| 1917 N.Z.E.F. Chrons. 5 Sept. 28/1 We hit him up for a loan for weeks afterwards and he always came to light too. 1930 Bulletin (Sydney) 26 Feb. 57/2 ‘Will you come and help me buy the things they most need?’ Uncle Bill had come to light without a doubt. 1936 F. S. Anthony Follow the Call vii. 83, I had to borrow {pstlg}20..before I could come to light with the engagement ring. 1945 N. Marsh Died in Wool vii. 157 You come to light with them two hooks. |
j. What is ― coming to?, a rhetorical expression of dismay or disgust.
| 1933 M. Lowry Ultramarine iv. 182 Christ, what's the ship coming to. 1938 ‘G. Graham’ Swiss Sonata 182 What's this school coming to? |
49. come under ―. a. See 6 b.
b. To rank, fall, or be classed under (a general title, etc.), to be included under.
| 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacr. iii. iv. §10 So both Greece and Italy come under the name of the Isles of the Gentiles. 1816 Byron in Moore Life 301 Anything of mine coming under the description of his request. 1889 Cornh. Mag. Dec. 567 It might come under the head of useful knowledge. |
c. To be brought under the operation of, to be subjected to.
| 1714 W. Edmundson Journal 7 All my parts came under this Exercise. 1887 The Lady 20 Jan. 38/3 The owners perhaps came under the guillotine. 1889 Law Rep., Appeal Cases XIV. 533 They had each come under liability to pay the balance due. 1890 Jrnl. Education 1 Jan. 27/2 Those pupils who..had come under his personal influence. |
50. come unto ―. a. See 3.
† b. = come to, 48 d. Obs.
| 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 308 Three Millions of Scutes of Gold..the which do come unto sterlyng money, fyve hundreth thousand pound. 1660 T. Willsford Scales Commerce i. iii. 108 How much comes 10d. a day unto by the year? |
51. come upon ―. a. See 3. The special senses are generally derived from the notion of something descending, alighting, or swooping down, with force or weight, upon one; cf. come down upon, 60 g. b. To attack, esp. suddenly or by surprise.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce xiv. 509 [Thai] Cum sa hardely Apon all the gret cheuelry of Yrland. c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. (1714) 89 To resyste our Ennemyes, whan they list to come upon us. 1611 Bible Gen. xxxiv. 25 And came vpon the citie boldly, and slew all the males. 1780 Coxe Russian Discov. 191 Katcham..came with such rapidity upon the Russians as to preclude the use of their arms. 1816 Byron in Moore Life 325 They come upon you in bodies of thirty..at a time. 1827 Scott Tales Grandf. Ser. i. viii, To come upon him suddenly and by night. |
c. Said of a divine visitation, retribution, curse, blessing, honour, calamity, etc.
| 1382 Wyclif Deut. xxviii. 2 And there shulen come vpon thee alle thes blissyngis. Ibid. 15 And..shulen come vpon thee alle thes malysouns. 1535 Coverdale Ps. lxxvii[i]. 31 The heuy wrath of God came vpon them, slewe y⊇ welthiest of them. 1611 Bible Job xxix. 13 The blessing of him that was readie to perish, came vpon me. 1714 Jrnl. W. Edmundson Pref. 29 Calamity that was coming upon this Nation. 1832 Tennyson Lady of Shalott iii. v, ‘The curse is come upon me’, cried The Lady of Shalott. |
d. Said of overmastering influences, physical or mental.
| 1382 Wyclif Ps. liv. 6 [lv. 5] Drede and trembling camen vp on me. 1611 Bible 2 Chron. xiv. 14 The feare of the Lord came vpon them. 1714 W. Edmundson Jrnl. 25 About this time it came weightily upon me to leave Shop⁓keeping. 1850 Tait's Mag. XVII. 402/1 A temporary madness seems to have come upon the people. 1886 M{supc}Carthy & Praed Right Hon'ble III. xxviii. 39 It came upon her now that something subtler..lay at the root. |
e. To make an authoritative demand or claim upon (a party liable).
| 1605 B. Jonson Volpone v. iv, I'll come upon him For that, hereafter. 1625 Massinger New Way iv. ii, Sir Giles Will come upon you for security For his thousand pounds. 1701 W. Wotton Hist. Rome 466 Turinus then came upon him for the Money. 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge lxxviii, In the damage done to the Maypole, he could ‘come upon the county’. 1850 Tait's Mag. XVII. 725/2 They might come upon me afterward, and make me pay up. |
f. To become legally chargeable on (any charity); to become a burden on.
| 1833 New Monthly Mag. XXXVII. 278 He had saved money, and could not come upon the parish. 1850 Tait's Mag. XVII. 336/2 So Betty came upon the parish with all her children. |
g. To meet with or fall in with a person or place as it were by chance.
| 1773 Goldsm. Stoops to Conq. 1, You are to go sideways till you come upon Crack-skull Common. 1820 Examiner No. 637. 414/2 She came upon us by surprise. 1849 Tait's Mag. XVI. 154/1 The travellers soon came upon a village. 1865 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. III. 256, I came upon Geraldine in Cheyne Row. |
come within ―: see 6, and within.
IX. With adverbs: forming the equivalents of compound verbs in other languages: e.g. come again, L. revenīre, F. revenir, Ger. wiederkommen.
Come is used with adverbs generally, esp. adverbs implying motion toward, as hither, together; only those in which the sense is more or less specialized are here dealt with.
52. come about. a. To arrive in the course of revolution; to revolve, ‘come round’.
| 1530 Palsgr. 489/1, I was borne this day twenty yeres, as the yeres come aboute. 1602 Carew Cornwall (1811) 187 Each entertaining such foreign acquaintance, as will not fail, when their like turn cometh about, to requite him with the like kindness. 1703 Moxon Mech. Exerc. 189 If the Diameter of the Rowler be smaller, the work comes so much swifter about. 1826 [see c]. 1889 Mrs. J. H. Riddell P'cess Sunshine I. vi. 96 That movable feast..came about in due season. |
† b. Naut. Of the wind: To turn, esp. into a more favourable quarter; to veer round. Obs.
| 1556 W. Towrson in Hakluyt Voy. (1589) 99 This after noone the winde came about. 1694 Narborough Acc. Sev. Late Voy. i. 176 From the 10th..to this day Noon, the Wind at North-north-west..At Noon..the Wind came about at South. 1708 Lond. Gaz. No. 4464/7 The Wind coming about..to the S.W. the Fleet was oblig'd to alter its Course. |
c. To come round to a person's side or opinion; to turn into a more satisfactory mood, or state; = come round 72 c, d. Obs. or dial.
| 1609 B. Jonson Sil. Wom. iv. i, The Lady Haughty looks well to-day, for all my dispraise of her..I think I shall come about to thee again. 1775 Sheridan Rivals i. ii, If you were just to let the servants forget to bring her dinner for three or four days, you can't conceive how she'd come about. 1826 Cobbett Rur. Rides (1885) II. 282 Some people..consoled themselves by saying things would come about again..They deceived themselves, things did not come about; the seasons came about, it was true; but something must be done to bring things about. |
d. To come in the course of events; to come to pass, happen, turn out; to come to be as it is.
| c 1315 Shoreham 104 For feawe of ham conne the skele Hou senne aboute cometh. c 1430 Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 8775 He meruelled hou it cam aboute. 1602 Shakes. Ham. v. ii. 391 And let me speake..How these things came about. 1697 Collier Ess. Mor. Subj. ii. (1709) 90 How comes it about that the Operations of Sense, and Reason vary so much? 1883 Buchanan Love me for Ever iv. i. 220 What strange changes had come about in a year! |
† e. To fulfil itself; to turn out true. Obs.
| 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. iii. 45 To see now how a Jest shall come about. |
53. come abroad.
To come forth from house or seclusion; to come out; to appear before the public, become publicly known, be published. arch.
| a 1553 Udall Royster D. iii. ii. (Arb.) 42 If he come abroade he shall cough me a mome. 1565–78 Cooper Thesaurus, Abdere se literis..to live unknowne in continualle studdy, and never to com a broade. 1576 Fleming Panoplie Ep. 204 Stay their edition, and let them not come abroad. 1582 N. T. (Rhem.) Luke viii. 17 For there is not any thing..hid, that shall not be knowen, and come abrode. 1677 Hale Prim. Orig. Man. To Rdr. 3 Some Writings of mine have without my privity come abroad in Print. 1735 Pope Prol. Sat. 157 Did some more sober critic come abroad. 1823 J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 17 The acid..usually comes abroad at five times the strength of vinegar. |
54. come across. See across B. 2 b.
55. come again. (See simple senses and again, esp. A. 1 b.) a. To come a second time, return.
| c 1460 Towneley Myst. 37 Go home, son, com sone agane. a 1555 Latimer Wks. (Parker Soc.) II. 442 But now, dearly beloved, to come again, be not ashamed of the Gospel of God. 1699 W. Dampier Voy. II. ii. 22 As she recovered, and made a little way, she would come again to the Wind, till another Sea struck her off again. 1812 Byron Ch. Har. i. vii, Monks might deem their time was come again. 1823 ― Juan viii. xxxv, But Johnson was a clever fellow, who Knew when and how ‘to cut and come again’. |
† b. To return to a normal condition; to recover from a swoon, etc. Obs. or dial.
| 1535 Coverdale Judg. xv. 19 Whan he dranke, his sprete came agayne, and he was refreszshed. 1611 Bible 2 Kings v. 14 His fleshe came againe. 1818 Edin. Mag. Dec. 503 (Jam.) My dochter was lang awa [in a swoon], but whan she cam again, she tauld us, etc. |
c. To appear after death. dial. (Cf. F. revenu.)
| 1884 Holland Chesh. Gloss. s.v., I remember a gentleman, who was drowned whilst skating, was popularly believed to ‘come again’. 1881 Oxfordsh. Gloss., Come again, to return after death. (Also in other dialect Glossaries.) |
d. An off-hand slang quasi-interrogative equivalent of ‘what did you say?’, ‘I beg your pardon’. orig. U.S.
| 1884 G. W. Peck Peck's Boss Book 112 ‘My chum had a pain in the small of her back and she confided in me, and after diagnosing the case—’ ‘Come again, please,’ said the old man, when she struck the college word. ‘You whiched the case?’ 1920 S. Lewis Main Street xxiii. 283 ‘He's a servant of reality.’ ‘Come again? Um. Yes.’ 1933 M. Lowry Ultramarine iii. 165 ‘Ah, no savee sing Tipperlairley, hey?’ ‘Come again, brother.’ ‘No savee sing Tipperlairley?’ ‘Oh, Tipperary. Yes, yes.’ 1956 ‘A. Gilbert’ Death came Too xvii. 180 Nurse Alexander startled them all by saying suddenly, ‘No scones.’ Crook turned. ‘Come again, sugar?’ |
e. Of a horse in a race: to regain speed. Also transf.
| 1946 Baltimore Sun 21 Nov. 21/1 Many of the supporters of [a certain horse] were ready to throw away their tickets when the odds-on favorite gave up the command, but cheered loudly when he ‘came again’ to win going away. 1962 Times 9 Apr. 4/5 The masters conjured up their second or third wind and came again. 1965 Observer 30 May 34 Came again, said of a horse that has been passed by other horses close to home, but which then (by sheer stamina plus gameness) ‘came again’ to win. |
56. come along.
To move onward (toward or with the speaker): often used as an exhortation.
| 1694 Narborough Acc. Sev. Late Voy. i. (1711) 26, I kept a Light out all night, that the Pink might see if she came along. 1701 Farquhar Sir H. Wildair ii. i, Hang your family dinners! come along with me. 1734 Pope Ess. Man iv. 373 Come then, my Friend! my Genius! come along. 1837 Dickens Pickw. ii, ‘Come along, then’, said he of the green coat. 1850 Tennyson In Mem. xxxvii, I murmur'd, as I came along, Of comfort clasp'd in truth reveal'd. |
57. come away. a. To come on one's way: see away 1. b. To come from the place: see away 2.
| 918 [see away 2]. 1830 Tennyson Oriana, How could I rise and come away, Oriana? 1864 ― North. Farmer v, I thowt a said what a owt to 'a said an' I coom'd awaäy. |
c. To detach itself, separate: see away 3.
| 1881 A. Lang Library ii. 41 Three jets of gas..made the backs of books come away in his hand. a 1891 Mod. A part of the bone must come away first. |
† d. To get on or along with; cf. away 16.
| 1605 Camden Rem. (1637) 39 There are..many of the French [words] which the Italians can hardly come away withall. |
e. To spring out of the ground; to grow apace.
| 1669 Worlidge Syst. Agric. vi. §5 (1681) 98 For the first half dozen years they make no considerable advance, but afterwards they come away miraculously. 1765 Earl of Haddington Forest-trees 12 This..to be done with all the young plants till they come away so heartily, that, etc. 1927 Forestry I. 18 Frequently after a period of years patches [of Spruce] come away, while the plants alongside are still in a state of check. 1950 N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. July 4/1 This type of feeding is continued until the spring pasture comes away and hardens up. |
f. To come forth, issue, turn out.
| 1823 J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 139 No two makings coming away alike, but depending entirely upon accident. |
58. come back. (See back adv. 5–7.) a. To return (hither), in space, or time; to return to a condition, to the memory, come to mind. Also, to return to consciousness (cf. quot. 1850).
| 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. iii. 8 Nurse come backe againe. 1850 Tait's Mag. XVII. 665/1 He rallied, and gradually came back to consciousness. 1883 Black Yolande II. xi. 198 Whatever happens, he cannot come back on you and say you had deceived him. 1890 Temple Bar Mag. Jan. 9 The very names are coming back to him. 1922 D. H. Lawrence England, my England (1924) 213 He worked a little longer. He could feel her live beneath his hands; she was coming back. |
b. Sporting slang. To fall back, lose ground.
| 1885 Times 4 June 10/3 Half way down the hill Royal Hampton began to come back to his horses. 1890 Field 29 Mar. 462/2 Wade succeeded in maintaining a lead..but from the seventh mile he began to ‘come back’ to his men. |
c. To retort or retaliate. U.S.
| 1896 Ade Artie vi. 54 Did you ever get the worst of it in such a way that you couldn't come back at the time? 1905 Tarkington In Arena 182 ‘Hello, Ben! I hear you're not for me!’ he said cordially. ‘How are you running?’ I came back at him, laughing. ‘Oh, we're going to beat you,’ he answered. 1916 H. L. Wilson Somewhere in Red Gap vi. 267 ‘And what a sweet little home you'll build for the Wales family!’ I says... But he wouldn't come back; so I left him surrounded by the wreck of his former smartiness and went home. 1928 F. N. Hart Bellamy Trial i. 12 Just as I was thinking of something really bright to come back with, a nice soft little voice in the back of the hall said [etc.]. |
d. Of an athlete: to return to form; to regain the initiative during an event. Also transf.
| 1922 Daily Mail 22 Nov. 11 Since that time he has ‘come back’ with such certainty..that he must of necessity be regarded as on a level with all the other big men. 1928 Daily Express 12 July 12/7 Duncan remains a master of the art of ‘coming back’. 1954 F. C. Avis Boxing Ref. Dict. 23 Come back, to attack an opponent vigorously after a period of accepting punishment. 1955 Times 2 May 5/7 The Scots, however, ‘came back’ excitingly through tries by Elgie and their stocky little half-back. |
e. To return to a former state of popularity or vogue.
| 1929 Times Lit. Suppl. 9 May 374/4 The way in which the tulip has ‘come back’ as a garden flower. 1934 Punch 11 Apr. 393/3 A West-End barber denies that beards are coming back. |
f. Of a guinea-fowl: to utter its cry (resembling ‘come back’). Cf. come-back n.1
| 1892 Leisure Hour Dec. 143/1 His turkeys gobbled all day, his guinea-fowls ‘come-backed’. |
59. come by. a. To come near, usually in passing; to pass.
| 1605 Shakes. Macb. iv. i. 140, I did heare The gallopping of Horse. Who was't came by? 1709 Steele Tatler No. 109 ¶1 There was a great Funeral coming by. 1842 Tennyson Walking to Mail, John. And when does this come by? James. The mail? At one o'clock. |
b. To come aside. dial.
60. come down. a. To descend (hither), to come to what is, or is spoken of as, a lower place: see down adv. Also (of rain) to fall heavily; (of fog) to ‘settle’.
| 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 5147 When Criste es common doun to deme. 1535 Coverdale Rev. xii. 12 The deuell is come downe vnto you. 1568 Grafton Chron. II. 70 At length commeth downe from the Pope two Legates. 1773 Goldsm. Stoops to Conq. i. ii, The gentleman that's coming down to court my sister. 1850 Tait's Mag. XVII. 256/1 The Chancellor of the Exchequer comes down to the House of Commons. 1854 Dickens Hard T. iii. ii. 269 It came down as I never saw it come down before. 1885 Mrs. E. Lynn Linton Chr. Kirkland II. vi. 187 The rain came down like a white sheet. 1891 Longman's Mag. July 238 The fog has come down as black as pitch. 1934 H. Miller Tropic of Cancer (1948) 245 It began to come down in bucketsful. |
b. To reach or extend in a downward direction.
| 1632 Lithgow Trav. vii. i. 353 Their women..whose vpper gownes come no further downe than their middle thighes. 1825 New Monthly Mag. XV. 21 The latest accounts of the patient come down to the fifteenth day after the operation. 1849 Tait's Mag. XVI. 12/2 The..forest..comes down to the water's edge. |
c. To descend by birth (obs.) or tradition; to survive from an earlier time to the present.
| a 1400–50 Wars Alex. 3156 (Ashm. MS.) Þat þai ware comen doun of kyngis. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 101 ¶7 Nothing of this Nature is come down to us. 1863 H. Cox Instit. iii. ii. 599 To come down to later times. 1879 M. J. Guest Lect. Hist. Eng. XXXV. 352 The tales had come down from the old heathen times. |
d. To fall, drop. (Chiefly in sporting phrase.)
| 1787 ‘G. Gambado’ Acad. Horsem. (1809) 25 The best bit of flesh that ever was crossed will certainly come down one day or another. 1803 Pic Nic No. 3 (1806) I. 108 Dr. F—..lost his equilibrium, and came down on the ice. 1888 J. Payn Myst. Mirbridge xix, He spurred the animal to leap the horse-trough..and it came down with him. 1890 Field 8 Mar. 363/2 The giraffe he fired at came down. |
e. To descend in rank or condition; to be humbled, abased, or degraded.
| 1382 Wyclif Jer. xlviii. 18 Cum doun fro glorie, sit in thirst, thou dwelling of the doȝter of Dibon. 1535 Coverdale Deut. xxviii. 43 Thou shalt come downe alowe. 1850 Tait's Mag. XVII. 633/2 Some folks who are so high will have to come down a peg. 1889 Mrs. J. H. Riddell P'cess Sunshine I. i. 8 They had come down in the world. |
f. To become reduced in size or amount; to be lowered.
| 1640 in Rushw. Hist. Coll. iii. (1692) I. 71 Resolved, That the Popish Commanders and Popish Officers shall be continued in pay till the Money come down, and no longer. 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §315 Its lustre diminished..till it came down to a star of about the third magnitude. 1832 H. Martineau Hill & Valley iii. 39 When prices fall and wages must come down. 1850 Tait's Mag. XVII. 719/2 The rent must come down. |
g. come down upon ―: to descend with authority, severity, hostility, or suddenness upon; to make an attack by surprise upon; to make a demand or call which is felt to press on or upon one. Colloq. phr. to come down (on or upon) (a person) like a ton of bricks, to reprimand or punish (a person) severely.
| 1611 Bible Ps. vii. 16 His violent dealing shall come downe vpon his owne pate. 1861 P. B. Du Chaillu Explor. Equat. Africa iv. 33 The treacherous enemy comes down upon a sleeping village. 1888 R. A. King Leal Lass I. vi. 117 It's too bad to come down always on you, only because you're such a good fellow. 1937 in Partridge Dict. Slang 172/1. 1938 G. Greene Brighton Rock ii. ii. 91 If there's any fighting I shall come down like a ton of bricks on both of you. 1950 J. Cannan Murder Included vii. 174 When I mentioned it to the others, they come down on me like a ton of bricks. 1964 New Society 20 Feb. 8/3 Nobody's interested until you actually break the law then they come down on you like a ton of bricks. |
h. come down (with) ―: to bring or put down; esp. to lay down money; to make a disbursement; also to come down with the needful, dust, pelf, etc. colloq. (cf. 7.)
| 1700 Congreve Way of World iii. v, What pension does your lady propose?..she must come down pretty deep now, she's superannuated. 1728 J. Gay Beggar's Opera iii. i. 39 Did he tip handsomely? How much did he come down with? 1760 C. Johnston Chrysal (1822) II. 248 I'll make them come down, and handsomely too, or they shall repent it. 1773 Goldsm. Stoops to Conq. i. ii. 10 When you come down with your pence, For a slice of their scurvy religion. a 1817 Jane Austen Persuasion (1818) IV. x. 227 Money, you know, coming down with money—..it cannot be a very agreeable operation. 1836 Gen. P. Thompson Exerc. (1842) IV. 381 The popular phrase of coming down with ‘the dust’. 1877 Scribn. Mag. XV. 288/2 But even rich fathers aren't willing Always to come down with the pelf. |
i. To be removed from its position, esp. (of a tree) to be felled, (of a building) to be demolished.
| 1844 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. V. i. 109 Large numbers of oaks have recently been felled, and many more are marked to come down. |
j. Of a river: to flow in flood. Austral., N.Z., and S. Afr.
| 1863 S. Butler First Year Canterbury Settl. vii. 83 The river had come down the evening on which we had crossed it, and so he had been unable to get the beef or himself home again. [1867 Queenstown Free Press 18 Jan. (Pettman), The rivers in this neighbourhood have been frequently down during the last month.] 1937 E. Hill Great Austral. Loneliness xxxiii. 255 It is twenty years since the Cooper [river] has come down across the bar of the Strzelecki, good seasons following its regular floods. 1951 L. G. D. Acland Early Canterbury Runs xi. 327 [He] was grazing a mob of sheep there when the Bowyer [River] came down in flood and drowned most of them. 1955 J. H. Wellington S. Afr. I. iii. xiv. 459 From the Kuiseb to the Cunene most of the rivers ‘come down’ two or three times a year, but there is no regularity in the flow, except that it occurs in the summer when rain falls on the plateau. |
k. to come down to: to be (basically) a matter of; to come right down to it: to get to fundamental facts or principles.
| 1891 H. C. Bunner Zadoc Pine 74 'Tain't much better, when you come right down to it. 1902 W. D. Howells Lit. & Life 212 A good..donkey would be worth all their tribe when it came down to hard work. 1931 L. Steffens Autobiogr. ii. xxxvi. 616 He did not—when it came right down to it, he would not—give me his evidence against individuals. 1959 J. L. Austin Sense & Sensibilia (1962) iv. 33 The expressions in question actually have quite different uses... Not always, certainly—there are cases..in which they come down to much the same. |
l. to come down with, to become ill with (a specified disease). orig. U.S.
| 1895 Wood Yale Yarns 77 (D.A.), The good Deacon almost feared he was about to come down with a fever. 1911 J. C. Lincoln Cap'n Warren's Wards ix. 147 The housekeeper felt sure he was ‘coming-down’ with some disease or other. 1961 R. & C. Winston tr. T. Mann's Genesis of Novel viii. 83, I was suffering from a severe headache, and the following morning I came down with a grippe that attacked stomach and intestines. |
m. To decide (in favour of), to resolve (to support).
| 1934 G. B. Shaw On Rocks ii. 261, I might come down on your side, Arthur, if I spotted you as a winner. 1951 Mind LX. 124 Woozley..comes down in favour of a Stoutean form of expression. 1980 New Yorker 4 Jan. 65 (caption) Dearly beloved, this morning I am going to come down on one side of two very large possibilities. |
61. come forth. (not colloquial.) a. To advance out of a place of retirement, come out; often as an encouraging or challenging call.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 14349 ‘Lazar’, wit þis, ‘cum forth’ he badd. a 1340 Hampole Psalter xviii. 5 As spouse cumand forth of his chawmbire. 1535 Coverdale Gen. xxiv. 15 Rebecca the doughter of Bethuel..came forth. 1784 Cowper Tiroc. 525 If..Your son come forth the prodigy of skill; The pedagogue..Claims more than half the praise. ― Task ii. 445 Forth comes the pocket mirror.—First we stroke An eyebrow, next compose a straggling lock. 1808 Mrs. Hemans Voice of Spring 21 Come forth, O ye children of gladness, come! 1830 Tennyson Ode to Memory iv, Come forth. 1879 M. J. Guest Lect. Hist. Eng. xxviii. 286 He came forth from his quiet retreat. |
† b. To come into existence, be born. Obs.
| 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. 3 In this maner they come forth and were borne horryble geants in albyon. |
† c. To become published; to come out. Obs.
| 1595 Barnfield Cynthia To Rdrs., Poems (Arb.) 44 The last Terme..there came forth a little toy of mine, intituled, The Affectionate Shepheard. 1607 Shakes. Timon i. i. 26 When comes your Booke forth. 1850 Tait's Mag. XVII. 491/2 ‘Childe Harold’ came forth during the same year. |
62. come forward. a. To approach, come from the background to the front. b. To present oneself before the public, a tribunal, or the like in any capacity. c. To make advances. lit. and fig.
| 1530 Palsgr. 490/1 Come forwarde, a Goddes name, whye dragge you so ever behynde. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 45 ¶1, I heard the same Voice say, but in a gentle Tone, Come forward. 1722 De Foe Plague (1884) 165 The Plague was come forward in the West and North Parts of the Town. 1823 New Monthly Mag. IX. 276/1 Buyers are not induced to come forward. 1859 Tennyson Geraint & Enid 285 The armourer..Came forward with the helmet yet in hand. 1879 M. J. Guest Lect. Hist. Eng. xvii. 167 Her cousin..came forward as a candidate. Mod. (humorous) They are very backward in coming forward. |
63. come in. (See in adv. in its various senses.) a. To enter hither; esp. into a house, room, or enclosure; to enter the field or arena. Also, spec. to come to work in a house.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 8959 Sco com in at þat ilk yatte. 1382 Wyclif 1 Kings xiv. 6 And seith, Cum in, wijf of Jeroboam. c 1400 Mandeville viii. (1839) 84 Whan we comen in wee diden of oure Schoon. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. i. ii. 181 He is the generall challenger, I come but in as others do, to try with him the strength of my youth. 1601 ― Twel. N. i. iii. 4 By my troth sir Toby, you must come in earlyer a nights. 1690 Locke Hum. Und. ii. ii. §1 The simple ideas thus united in the same subject, are as perfectly distinct as those that come in by different senses. 1728 W. Smith Univ. College 271 That he had..twice or thrice knocked to come in. 1856 G. J. Whyte-Melville Kate Cov. (1882) 61/2 A sleepy ‘Come in’ was the reply to my summons. 1882 Daily Tel. 27 May (Cricket), Mr. C. T. Studd..came in third wicket down. 1930 A. Bennett Imperial Palace xliv. 313 The charwoman who ‘came in’ for half a day on alternate days. |
b. To enter as invaders, settlers, occupants, etc. Also, to enter as a partner (in a company or on an enterprise).
| c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 12 And þe Denmarkes come þo first ynne. 1598 Bp. Hall Sat. iv. ii. 136 And tels how first his famous ancestor Did come in long since with the Conquerour. 1843 Dickens Mart. Chuz. xxvii. 334 Ha, Ha! Join us. You shall come in cheap. 1873 Tristram Moab ix. 174 Traces of aborigines, before the basalt-building inhabitants came in. 1923 Wodehouse Inimit. Jeeves xiv, I came..to ask if you would care to come in on another little flutter. 1936 L. C. Douglas White Banners x. 220 I'll come in on it..and help. 1953 R. Lehmann Echoing Grove 310 She came in on a campaign..I was helping to organize. |
† c. (in Script.) to come in unto: to have carnal intercourse with. Obs.
| 1535 Coverdale Gen. xix. 31 Not a man more vpon earth that can come in vnto us. 1611 Bible Gen. xxxviii. 16. |
d. To move or advance inwards; to arrive here at its destination; to enter the port, goal, etc. Also, to be in the last stage of a run. (Cf. come-in n.)
| a 1626 Bacon (J.), Our second fleet, which kept the narrow seas, was come in and joined to our main fleet. 1667 Dryden Sir Martin Mar-all v. i, Here's another of our vessels come in. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 129 ¶1 There came in this Morning a Mail from Holland. 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1840) I. xv. 256 The tide, as going out, or coming in. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 386 the mails went out and came in only on the alternate days. 1857 Hughes Tom Brown vii, The whole hunt is out of ear-shot, and all hope of coming in is over. 1888 Farjeon Miser Farebro. II. xix. 256 The ‘dark’ horse..came in fourth. |
† e. Fencing. To make a pass or home-thrust, to get within the opponent's guard. Obs.
| 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen IV, ii. iv. 241 These nine..Began to giue me ground: but I followed me close, came in foot and hand. 1597 ― 2 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 302 Hee would about, and about, and come you in, and come you in. a 1625 Fletcher Bloody Bro. v. ii, Oh, bravely thrust! Take heed he come not in, sir. To him again; you give him too much respite. |
† f. To submit, yield, give in one's adhesion.
| 1520 Hen. VIII Let. in St. Papers Hen. VIII, II. iii. 57 O'Neil, and the other Irish captains [have] come in, and..recognised us as their sovereign lord. 1560 in E. Lodge Illust. Brit. Hist. (1791) I. 332 My Lord of Norfolke was ready to com in. 1596 Spenser State Irel. Wks. (Globe) 658/1 Touching the arche-rebell himselfe..if he..should offer to come in and submitt himselfe to her Majestie. 1687 Burnet Cont. Refl. Varillas 124 Seeing the Queen's Forces encrease, and that none came in to him. 1828 Scott Tales Grandf. Ser. ii. xxv, Glencoe had not come in within the term prescribed. |
g. To be successful in a candidature; to be elected; to come into power.
| 1705 Hearne Collect. 7 Dec. (Oxf. Hist. Soc.) I. 118 He came in Rector. 1820 Examiner No. 619. 124/1 Mr. March Phillips..came in for Leicestershire in 1818, on the Whig interest. 1825 New Monthly Mag. XIV. 15 A character for public speaking, which..must inevitably lead..whenever the Whigs should come in, to a seat in the British Senate. 1890 Sat. Rev. 17 May 586/1 Mr. Gladstone says that the statement that he came in on allotments in 1886..is..untrue. |
h. Of things: To be brought or given in.
| a 1067 Char. Eadweard in Cod. Dipl. IV. 195 Ani land sy owt of ðen biscopriche ᵹedon, ich wille ðæt hit cume in onᵹean. 1885 Mrs. E. Lynn Linton Chr. Kirkland I. i. 15 At Easter, eggs came in by the hundred. 1890 Sat. Rev. 12 July 35/1 Subscriptions will continue to come in. |
i. To come into hand as revenue or receipts. (Cf. income.)
| 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 2 Sweet hearts we shall be rich ere we depart, If fairings come thus plentifully in. 1596 ― 1 Hen. IV, iv. i. 55 We may boldly spend, vpon the hope Of what is to come in. a 1670 Hacket Abp. Williams i. (1692) 201 He was profuse in hospitality..To maintain all this, he had plenty coming in. 1833 New Monthly Mag. XXXVII. 347 Coming in as the incomes of literary men do. |
j. Natural productions (e.g. vegetables, oysters), etc., are said to come in, when they begin to be in season, and come into hand for use; so to come in usefully, opportunely, and the like. In the current phrases, to come in handy, come in useful, etc., there is a blending of this notion with others, ‘to come in opportunely and prove useful’.
| 1879 M. J. Guest Lect. Hist. Eng. xxxiii. 330 The snow and the storms came in so well to help the Welsh. 1884 H. Coxwell Contemp. Rev. Oct. 536 The system of balloon signalling..would have come in opportunely. 1888 M{supc}Carthy Ladies' Gallery II. v. 69 The knowledge came in handy now. 1889 Mrs. E. Kennard Landing a Prize I. xii. 207 They have come in most useful. 1890 Sat. Rev. 8 Feb. 157/2 Even cats..come in useful. |
k. To enter into a narrative, account, or list; to intervene in the course of anything; to take its place, esp. with reference to the place or manner. Cf. sense 6 b. Phr. this, etc., is where we came in: our knowledge dates from this point; we are back to where we started.
| 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. ii. i. 365 Gre. If whil'st I liue she will be onely mine. Tra. That only came well in. 1610 ― Temp. ii. i. 77 Widow? A pox o' that: how came that Widdow in? Widdow Dido! 1820 Examiner No. 648. 587/1 But justice comes in here, as it comes in at every corner of this rotten question. 1886 Lady Branksmere II. xxix. 158 Where does the joke come in? 1949 Wodehouse Uncle Dynamite vii. 114 Now we're back where we started. This is where we came in. 1966 Guardian 24 Sept. 6/5 There was an old saying about the continuous movie programme. This is where we came in. It became gradually part of the language with more general application. 1967 ‘H. Howard’ Routine Investigation ii. 19 ‘Anything else you want to ask me?’ ‘No. This is where I came in. Tomorrow we'll go call on a few people who may have a few answers.’ |
l. To come into use, vogue, or fashion.
| c 1380 Wyclif Wks. (1880) 117 Þei han grete lordischipis amorteised to hem..þis amorteisynge comeþ in bi ypocrisie of preiynge be mouþ. 1652 Needham tr. Selden's Mare Cl. 24 For thence came in private Dominion or Possession. a 1684 Earl Roscom. Poems (J.), Then came rich cloaths and graceful action in. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. IV. 172 After the Revolution, Jacobite plots came in. 1890 Blackw. Mag. CXLVII. 510/2 Now that..croquet has come in. |
m. Of a time or season: To enter or begin.
| 1526 Tindale Rom. xi. 25 Vntyll the fulnes of the gentyls be come in. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, v. iii. 52 Now comes in the sweete of the night. 1719 De Foe Crusoe (1840) I. xvi. 275 The settled season began to come in. 1890 Blackw. Mag. CXLVII. 133/1 The year comes in royally. |
† n. to come in with: to overtake; to meet; to fall in with. Obs.
| 1557 R. Woodman in Foxe A. & M. (1596) 1801/2 Ere euer I could arise and get away, he was come in with me. 1724 De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 191 In this pickle..I came in with him. |
o. to come in for: to be included among those who receive a share of anything; to receive incidentally. Phr. to come in for it, to incur punishment, or a rebuke. colloq.
| 1665 Bp. Patrick Pilgrim xxi. 218 We come in for a share of all their gettings. 1697 Collier A Thought Ess. (1702) II. 84 If Thinking is essential to Matter, Stocks and Stones will come in for their share of Privilege. 1841 Dickens Barn. Rudge i, You'll come in for it presently, I know you will! 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 366 Bystanders whom His Majesty recognised often came in for a courteous word. 1864 Dickens Mut. Fr. I. ii. viii. 238 Unfortunate Lavvy... She always comes in for it. 1880 H. Lapham in D. M. Davin N.Z. Short Stories (1953) 68 Poor Brennan came in for it,..a severe lecturing, as well as to be reduced to the rank of constable. 1885 Mrs. E. Lynn Linton Chr. Kirkland III. ix. 298 She came in for her share of a fine property. |
p. to come in upon, on: to enter one's mind as a powerful impression, to be borne in upon.
| 1886 M{supc}Carthy & Mrs. C. Praed Right Hon'ble II. xxiii. 180 It came more and more in upon her that she had known from the very first. 1889 Stevenson Master of B. vi. 186 Has it never come in upon your mind what you are doing? |
q. Of a cow: to calve. dial. and U.S.
| 1705 W. L. Grimstone Lawyer's Fortune i. i, There's a young one comes in this Year. 1838 H. Colman Mass. Rep. Agric. 60 He gives an opinion,..that the heifers which ‘come in’ with their first calf at two years old, do better than when their coming in is delayed until three years old. 1857 [see coming vbl. n.1 7 d]. 1874 Rep. Vermont State Board Agric. II. 93 He..has his cows come in usually in April. |
| 1863 Country Gentleman 22 Jan. 63/3 Hence the object is to have all the cows ‘come in’ near the commencement of the butter or cheese making season. 1950 N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. May 485/1 But sows farrowing in May, and their litters too, must be fed until the cows come in. |
r. Of a radio operator, etc.: to begin speaking.
| 1958 ‘N. Shute’ Rainbow & Rose i. 18 The announcer said, ‘..7 KZ, if you are listening, will you come in, Mrs. Hoskins.’ 1966 Listener 17 Nov. 717/3 Mr Aubrey Jones, would you like to come in first, having heard Mr Cousins? 1970 R. Johnston Black Camels xii. 184 The loudspeaker spoke in the wireless truck. ‘Gunbus One to White Chief...’ ‘Come in Gunbus One.’ |
64. come near. To approach in place, order, qualities, etc.: see near. So come nigh.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 14123 (Cott.) Ne mans wijt þar mai cum nere. 1662 Stillingfl. Orig. Sacræ iii. ii. §3 To which those expressions of Plato in his Timæus come very near. 1726 Swift Gulliver (1869) 190/1 The horse started a little when he came near. 1878 Scribn. Mag. XV. 24/2 We came very near having a smash-up. 1889 Stevenson Master of B. xi. 298 The Indian..came near to pay the penalty of his life. |
65. come off. † a. Formerly in imperative as a call of encouragement to action: come! come along! come on! Obs.
| c 1386 Chaucer Friar's T. 304 Yis quod this Somonour..Com of, and lat me ryden hastily. Yif me xii. pens. 1413 Lydg. Pilgr. Sowle iv. xx. (1483) 66 Come of, come of, and slee me here as blyue. 1470–85 Malory Arthur xx. iv, Come of thenne, sayd they alle, and do hit [open a door]. 1481 Caxton Reynard B. vij, Why tarye ye thus longe, come of. 1526 Skelton Magnyf. 103 Come of, therefore, let se; Shall I begynne or ye. 1530 Palsgr. 418 Come of, my scolers..I shall shewe you many thinges, or {cced}a, mes escoliers. 1557 Sarum Primer, Complin E iij, Come of therfore our patronesse, Cast upon us those pitifull eyes of thyne. |
b. To come away from a place in which one has been, e.g. a ship, a coast, etc.
| a 1480 Siege of Rouen in Collect. Lond. Cit. (Camden 1877) 41 But massyngers thedyr he sende, Bade them to come of and make an end. 1699 W. Dampier Voy. II. i. viii. 154 The next day Capt. Minchin came off. 1743 J. Bulkeley & Cummins Voy. S. Seas 108 Made a Signal for the Boats to come off. 1825 Cobbett Rur. Rides (1885) II. 1 We came off from Burghclere yesterday afternoon, crossing Lord Carnarvon's park. |
† c. To desist, cease from. Obs. Also, to ‘give over’; to stop talking. (Cf. 44 above.) U.S. slang.
| 1711 H. Felton Classicks (J.), To come off from these grave disquisitions, I would clear the point by one instance more. a 1714 Burnet Own Time II. 31 To forgive every one that should come off from his opposition. 1870 J. J. M{supc}Closkey Across Continent in Amer. Lost Plays (1940) IV. 95/1 Oh, come off, Joe. 1889 Century Dict., Come off, to cease (fooling, flattering, chaffing or humbugging); desist: chiefly in the imperative: as, oh, come off! (Recent slang, U.S.) 1892 N.Y. Mercury Feb. (Ware), ‘How much does yez ax for this book?’ ‘Six dollars,’ replied the smiling clerk. ‘Six dollars! Oh, come off!’ 1904 S. E. White Silent Places xiii. 139 Now you treat her decent and you treat me decent. It's time you came off. 1904 W. H. Smith Promoters xx. 293 ‘[It] makes one conscious of his own superiority to call some one else down.’ ‘Oh, come off!’ Goldsby replied. 1906 E. Dyson Fact'ry 'Ands v. 56 Come off! She don't look where I live. 1912 E. C. Bentley Trent's Last Case v. 119 ‘Come off!’ exclaimed Trent bitterly. ‘What do I care about his story?.. I want to know how you know he went to Southampton.’ 1929 W. Smyth Girl from Mason Creek vi. 64 Oh, come off, Thomson. |
† d. ‘To deviate; to depart from a rule or direction’ (J.). Obs.
| 1626 Bacon Sylva §221 The Figure of a Bell partaketh of the Pyramis, but yet comming off, and dilating more suddenly. |
e. To become detached; to detach oneself.
| 1833 New Monthly Mag. XXXVII. 486 Eve handled it, and no doubt the apple came off in her fingers. 1837 Dickens Pickw. xxxiii, Mr. Weller..attacked the Reverend Mr. Stiggins with manual dexterity. ‘Come off!’ said Sam. 1850 Tait's Mag. XVII. 26/1 The tail..came off in his hand. 1890 Univ. Rev. 15 Mar. 302 The wheel of the car came off in the middle of the road. |
f. To leave the field of combat; to retire or extricate oneself from any engagement; usually with reference to the manner, as to come off with flying colours, come off second best, come off badly, come off safely, come off victorious, come off a loser, etc.
| 1596 Shakes. Merch. V. i. i. 128 But my cheefe care Is to come fairely off from the great debts. 1607 ― Cor. i. vi. 1 We are come off, Like Romans, neither foolish in our stands, Nor Cowardly in retyre. 1630 R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. 26 His few well led men came ever off with victory.. 1684 Bunyan Pilgr. ii. 68 Some Pilgrims in some things come off losers. 1748 Smollett Rod. Rand. ix, Blessing ourselves that we had come off so well. 1829 Scott Tales Grandf. Ser. iii. xxiii, He had come off victorious..in every action in which he had been engaged. 1883 A. Dobson Fielding 70 In this controversy..Cibber did not come off worst. |
† g. To get off, escape. Obs.
| 1634 Milton Comus 647, I..Entered the very lime-twigs of his spells, And yet came off. 1667 N. Fairfax in Phil. Trans. II. 547 She had a dangerous Feaver, with a Diarrhœa, but came off. a 1716 South (J.), If, upon such a fair and full trial, he can come off, he is then clear and innocent. 1813 Jane Austen Let. 23 Sept. (1952) 335 They talked of cupping me, but I came off with a dose or two of calomel. |
† h. To acquit oneself well, etc. Obs.
| 1647 W. Browne tr. Polexander i. 14 Cunning but capricious Artisans, which come off in nothing so well as in making Monsters. |
† i. Of things: To come to an issue or result; to turn out. Obs.
| 1591 Shakes. Two Gent. ii. i. 116 Sil. I thanke you (gentle Seruant) 'tis very Clerkly-done. Val. Now trust me (Madam) it came hardly-off. 1607 ― Timon i. i. 29 Pain. 'Tis a good Peece. Poet. So 'tis, this comes off well, and excellent. 1823 J. Badcock Dom. Amusem. 171 This imitation..which comes off nearest to the mineral is as follows. |
j. Of a thing on hand: To come to the issue; to take place, be carried out.
| 1825 C. M. Westmacott Eng. Spy I. 368 The event has not come off right. 1841 J. T. J. Hewlett Parish Clerk III. 142 A race to come off on the sands. 1865 Mrs. Carlyle Lett. III. 286 First dinner (called luncheon), which comes off at two o'clock. |
† k. To pay, disburse: cf. come down, come out.
| 1598 Shakes. Merry W. iv. iii. 13 They shall haue my horses, but Ile make them pay..they must come off. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 539 Neither would Protogenes part with any of his pictures vnto them, vnlesse they would come off roundly and rise to a better price than before time. 1636 Davenant Wits in Dodsley (1780) VIII. 512 We'll make her costive Beldamship Come off. 1639 Massinger Unnat. Combat iv. ii, Will you come off, sir? |
l. Sporting euphem. To fall off. Cf. 2 c.
| 1881 Mrs. O'Donoghue Ladies on Horseback i. i. 7, I confess I don't like to see a girl come off. |
m. To have (a certain) success; and absol., to be successful; to result in success. Cf. sense f.
| 1864 Crown Princess of Prussia Let. 4 May in R. Fulford Dearest Mama (1968) 327 The Armistice does not seem to be coming off—the King and every one seem very anxious for it here. 1865 F. Lilywhite Guide to Cricketers 128 [He] has been known to ‘come off’ as a change bowler. 1874 Trollope Way we live Now (1875) I. xxx. 194 I'm afraid you didn't make much of Mr. Melmotte,..it just didn't come off. 1883 Graphic 11 Aug. 138/2 Batting is his forte, though he does not always ‘come off ’. 1904 Daily Chron. 11 July 3/2 Atmosphere is here; knowledge is here; graphic style is here. But..it does not in the telling language of the studio ‘come off’. 1929 Times Lit. Suppl. 2 May 360/1 As a theologian he comes off no better, for against a stanza in which the Virgin responds to the Annunciation of Gabriel is placed the side-note ‘The Immaculate Conception’! 1966 Listener 8 Sept. 366/2 Another fascinating original..appeared to be about a man in hell. I am not sure that it entirely came off. |
n. (See sense 17 above.) o. come off. Cricket. To be taken off or rested after a spell of bowling; to cease bowling. Cf. take off s.v. take v. 83 e.
| 1910 A. A. Milne Day's Play 131 When I am captaining a team,..and one of the bowlers wants to come off, I am always ready to meet him half-way. 1954 E. Raymond To Wood no More vi. 94 ‘They're hitting him about now... He's tiring.’ ‘Yes, he'll come off.’ 1977 Sunday Times 3 July 28/1 Geoff Miller..came off after Lancashire's Frank Hayes hit him for 30 runs—six fours and a six—in two overs. |
p. Of a play, film, etc.: to reach the end of a run.
| 1952 M. Laski Village vii. 121 They says it's a really good film and it comes off to-morrow. |
66. come on. a. To advance hitherward: often implying hostile intent. Also with from: to arrive after travelling on from another specified place, engagement, etc.
| c 1400 Sowdone Bab. 2873 Than wole I, þat ye come on In haste to that same place. c 1430 Lydg. Smyth & Dame in Hazl. E.P.P. III. 209 The smyth..Called on hys dame Jone, And bad her com on fast. 1535 Coverdale Jer. xlviii. 14 The destruction off Moab commeth on a pace. 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. v. i. 400 The swift celeritie of his death, Which I did thinke, with slower foot came on. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (J.), The great ordnance once discharged, the armies came fast on. 1722 De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 238 Their troops..came on again to the charge with such fury, that, etc. 1889 Standard 9 Dec. 5/7 He will come on to Zanzibar on Thursday. 1902 H. James Wings of Dove iii. 88 She had come on from Boston for that purpose. 1930 E. Waugh Vile Bodies iv. 51 They had come on from a dance and stood in a little group by themselves. |
b. To advance in growth or development; to progress, thrive, grow, get on, improve.
| 1606 Marston Sophonisba ii. i, States come on With slow advice, quicke execution. 1626 Bacon Sylva (J.), It should seem by the experiments, both of the malt and of the roses, that they will come far faster on in water than in earth. 1689 Hickeringill Ceremony-monger 38 Like a young Setting-dog..there's hopes of him, he's coming on. 1759 Phil. Trans. LI. 182 He seemed to come on but slowly while the shocks were slight. 1853 C. M{supc}Intosh Bk. Garden 473 Crops of cauliflower, etc., that may be coming on too fast. 1890 Field 15 Feb. 232/3 No. 7 [oarsman] has hardly come on as fast as expected. Ibid. 8 Mar. 355/1 He [a dog] has come on tremendously in head. |
c. To come so as to prevail disagreeably; to supervene: said of night, winter, bad weather, fits or states of illness.
| c 1400 Sowdone Bab. 892 The nyghte come on ful sone. 1485 Caxton Chas. Gt. 83 The nyght came on. 1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (J.), Until winter were come on. 1694 Narborough Acc. Sev. Late Voy. i. (1711) 126 Night coming on, we here pitched our tent. 1712 W. Rogers Voy. 4 It came on to blow. 1830 ‘Juan de Vega’ Jrnl. Tour xx. (1847) 138 It came on to rain. 1840 R. Dana Bef. Mast xiv, We encountered another south-easter..it came on in the night. 1879 Carpenter Ment. Phys. i. ii. 75 Whenever the paroxysm came-on. 1886 M{supc}Carthy & Mrs. C. Praed Right Hon'ble I. vi. 99 The night had come on wet. |
d. To come upon the board for discussion or settlement; to come in course to be dealt with.
| 1737 Pope Hor. Epist. ii. ii. 96 Before the Lords at twelve my Cause comes on. 1789 T. Jefferson Writ. (1859) III. 64 The question of the St. Domingo deputation came on. 1833 New Monthly Mag. XXXVIII. 132 The next day comes on Sir John Key's motion. 1890 Sat. Rev. 22 Mar. 340/2 The..Bill had come on for second reading. |
e. To come upon the stage or scene of action.
| 1833 New Monthly Mag. XXXVIII. 225 Then came on a small man. 1888 M{supc}Carthy & Praed Ladies' Gallery III. viii. 168 Ransom began to grow impatient, and to wonder if Berenice was never to come on. 1890 Field 10 May 672/2 At this stage Mr. Woods came on to bowl. |
f. come on! the imperative is used as a call to urge some one to advance towards or to accompany (the speaker), or to proceed with anything; esp. used as a challenge or call of defiance.
| c 1450 Guy Warw. (C.) 1860 Gye beganne on hym to crye Harrawde, come on smertlye. 1503 Hawes Examp. Virt. iii. 29 Come on fayre youth and go with me. 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 1 Come-on, come-on, come-on: giue mee your Hand, Sir; giue mee your Hand, Sir. 1603 ― Meas. for M. ii. i. 144 Now Sir, come on: What was done to Elbowes wife, once more? 1738 Pope Epil. Sat. ii. 14 Come on then, Satire!.. Spread thy broad wing, and souse on all the kind. 1837 Dickens Pickw. ii, ‘Come on,’ said the cab-driver, sparring away like clock-work. ‘Come on—all four on you.’ 1888 E. Gosse Raleigh ix. 201 Struck down as he was shouting ‘Come on, my men!’ |
67. come out. a. lit. i.e. out of a place, a house, etc., into the open; to emerge, issue forth.
| c 950 Lindisf. Gosp. John xi. 43 Ðu latzar cymm ut. c 1175 Lamb. Hom. 63 And fereð in to helle..ut ne cumeð he nefre ma. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 2643 Frenschemen..þat buþ now comen out of þe tour. 1535 Coverdale Numb. xx. 11 And Moses..smote y⊇ rocke..Then came y⊇ water out abundantly. 1611 Bible Luke xv. 28 Therefore came his father out. 1722 De Foe Col. Jack (1840) 137 Go in there a slave, and come out a gentleman. 1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk., Christmas Eve (Rtldg.) 86/2 The squire came out to receive us. |
b. esp. ‘out into the field’, i.e. to fight.
| [a 1498 J. Warkworth Chron. (Camden Soc.) 14 Kynge Edwarde sent a messyngere to them, that yf thai wulde come oute, that he wulde feght withe them.] 1611 Bible Judg. ix. 29 And he said to Abimelech, Increase thine armie and come out. 1805 Blackwood in Nicolas Disp. Nelson (1846) VII. 130 note, At this moment the Enemy are coming out. 1829 Scott Tales Grandf. Ser. iii. lxxxiv, Their simple and ignorant followers, who came out [in 1745] in ignorance of the laws of the civilized part of the nation. |
c. with the notion of leaving one's employment; as to come out on strike.
| 1885 Manch. Exam. 20 May 4/7 Seventeen..came out on strike yesterday morning. 1889 Daily Tel. 3 Dec. 5/5 He had the promises of 300 to come out ‘in sympathy’ when the time came for quitting work. |
d. With complement: To emerge (in a specified manner) from a contest, competition, examination.
| 1848–60 Bartlett Dict. Amer. s.v., ‘How did you come out?’ means, how did you fare in your undertaking? 1868 Holme Lee B. Godfrey xxxiv. 186 He will come out a double-first. 1881 Mrs. C. Praed Policy & P. I. xiii. 289, I have set my heart on coming out winner. 1889 Stevenson Master of B. iv. 128 He had been put to his defence, he had come lamely out. |
e. To appear, as the sun, moon, or stars; to emerge from behind the clouds, etc.
| 1832 Tennyson May Queen ii. iv, I wish the snow would melt and the sun come out on high. 1883 Mrs. C. Praed Moloch I. i. vii. 132 The stars came out in the blue overhead. 1889 Temple Bar Mag. Nov. 308 The moon will come out when the wind goes. |
f. To protrude, project, extend. (See 5.)
| 1694 Narborough Voy. S. & N. ii. 118 Between the Scales on both sides the Knobs come out commonly three or four together. 1715 Desaguliers Fires Impr. 23 The other [end] at top..coming out into the Room. |
† g. To come to an end, expire, ‘run out’. Obs.
| 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 241 b, The trewes commeth oute at October nexte. |
h. To come into public view or notice, as from concealment; to become public; to be played, as a card.
| c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 73 Leste hit uttere cume þat hie tweien witen. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xix. 156 Þus cam it out þat cryst ouer-cam, rekeuered and lyued; For þat wommen witeth may nouȝte wel be conseille! c 1460 Towneley Myst. 194 Els on the shalle I be wrokyn or thi ded com Alle outt. 1625 Massinger New Way v. i, All will come out. 1781 Ann. Reg., Hist. Europe 193*/2 The proceedings of the committee must all come out in the end. 1796 Nelson 20 Nov., in Nicolas Disp. (1845) 304 We have all of us some [damages] when the truth comes out. 1886 Mrs. C. Praed Miss Jacobsen's Chance I. iv. 68 All this came out incidentally. 1889 ‘B. W. D.’ & ‘Cavendish’ Whist w. Perception 35 Two rounds of diamonds come out. |
i. To appear or be found as the result of investigation or computation, or as the solution of a problem. Also ellipt., of certain games of cards.
| a 1699 Stillingfl. (J.), It is indeed come out at last, that we are to look on the saints as inferior deities. 1705 Arbuthnot Table Coins, Weights, & M. (J.), The weight of the denarius, or the seventh of a Roman ounce, comes out sixty-two grains and four sevenths. 1781 Ann. Reg., Hist. Europe 162*/2 If..it should come out, that the vice admiral's complaints were founded. 1816 Playfair Nat. Phil. II. 21 If tan Long. come out negative, the longitude is greater than a semicircle. 1883 Black Yolande I. xviii. 355, I think it will come out all right. 1890 Bedford Directory 1 The death rate came out at a little under 13·28. 1909 H. G. Wells Ann Veronica xv. 320 ‘I believe after all it's coming out!’ said Miss Stanley. ‘The aces made it easy.’ 1934 A. Huxley Beyond Mexique Bay 191 He plays three games of mystical solitaire. If all three games ‘come out’, then it means that the patient is certain to get well. 1939 R. Lehmann No More Music i. ii. 40 (He sweeps the cards into a tangle.) Anyway, it's not coming out. Give it up. 1953 A. Christie Pocket full of Rye xviii. 123 ‘Just wait a minute,’ said Miss Ramsbottom. ‘This Patience is going to come out.’ |
j. To come into visible development, display itself; as leaves, flowers, eruptive diseases, etc.; also with the person suffering from an eruptive disease as subj., to become covered in (a rash, etc.). As said of a photographic effect, there is often a mixture of senses i. and k.
| 1575 Turberv. Venerie 242 His heade, when it commeth first out, hath a russet pyll vpon it. 1724 Lond. Gaz. No. 6306/2 The Small Pox are come out very violently on the Queen. 1836 Dickens Sk. Boz 6 Some strange eruption that had come out in the night. 1890 Graphic 10 May 539/3 The lilacs are coming out. a 1891 Mod. The leaves are just coming out. We took photographs, but the details have not come out very well. 1891 Longman's Mag. Dec. 195 He was seized with curiosity to see whether Mrs...‘came out’ as badly in a photograph as she did in a letter. c 1901 R. A. Knox in E. Waugh Life (1959) i. iii. 61, I am dying to know how your photograph of me..has come out in printing. 1932 D. L. Sayers Have his Carcase vii. 89 If I shave the beard I come out all over buttons. 1941 E. Bowen Look at Roses 53 Do you think that photo will ever come out? 1945 M. Dickens Thursday Afternoons i. 25 Kathy's come out in the most awful spots... Look at the child. 1958 G. Greene Our Man in Havana iii. iii. 127 If he drinks champagne he comes out in spots. 1981 R. Hayman K: Biogr. Kafka vii. 84 He came out in boils, and found the Parisian doctors unable to help. |
k. To become evident; to show itself prominently.
| 1820 Examiner No. 614. 43/1 They come out upon the eye with a satisfying power. 1849 Tait's Mag. XVI. 177/2 The evil came out in a very marked way after 1843. 1883 A. Roberts O.T. Revision iii. 50 Here comes out one of the most characteristic blemishes of the Authorised Version. 1890 New Rev. Apr. 290 The same arrogance came out, sometimes with startling distinctness. |
l. To be offered to the public; to issue from the press, be published. Cf. come out with, 69.
| 1573 Baret Alv. To Rdr., Sir Thomas Eliots Librarie, which was come out a little before. 1602 Return fr. Parnass. i. ii. (Arb.) 9 What new paper hobby horses..are come out in your late May morrice daunce. 1710 Steele Tatler No. 232 ¶2 All the Writings and Pamphlets which have come out since the Trial. 1791 Boswell Johnson (1831) I. 186 A few numbers of the Rambler had come out. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 389 The London Gazette came out only on Mondays and Thursdays. 1890 Sat. Rev. 15 Feb. 199/1 The new Russian loan..came out this week. |
m. To show oneself publicly (in some character or fashion); to declare oneself (in some way); to make a public declaration of opinion. Also spec. to acknowledge publicly one's homosexuality. Cf. to come out of the closet s.v. closet n. 3 d.
| 1637 Rutherford Lett. No. 167 (1862) I. 390 Eyes to discern the devil now coming out in his whites. 1837 Dickens Pickw. xxxvii, When he began to come out in this way. 1844 Fraser's Mag. XXX. 584/2, I have hoards of gold laid by..and could come out as a Crœsus when I chose. 1850 Tait's Mag. XVII. 425/2 Why you come out so strong in favour of one cause? 1876 Stubbs Early Plantag. iv. 65 Now he [Becket] comes out as a candidate for martyrdom. 1968 Globe Mag. (Toronto) 13 Jan. 6/4 Several I spoke to referred to the difficulties they experienced in ‘coming out’—realizing they were homosexuals. 1972 B. Rodgers Queens' Vernacular 54 Ruth came out when she was thirty-five—that's a long time to wait. 1974 New Statesman 31 May 759/1 The gays at the conference..were..all people who had ‘come out’—that is, openly declared themselves to be homosexual. 1978 Gay News 23 Feb. 19/5 The fact that I am gay is written down in black and white. I came out at teaching college and the fact was put down in my personal file. 1984 Maledicta 1983 VII. 205 Date of birth is less important to ‘generation’ than when one came out: gay people of divergent ages who came out into a particular gay world belong to one generation. |
n. To make a début on the stage or in some kindred professional character.
| 1820 Examiner No. 637. 414/2 When she came out in Mandane..she came upon us by surprise. 1831 F. A. Kemble Let. in Rec. of Girlh. II. viii. 229, I am to come out in Bianca, in Milman's ‘Fazio’. 1837 H. Martineau Soc. Amer. III. 171 She studies..as if she were coming out next year in a learned profession. 1888 M{supc}Carthy & Mrs. C. Praed Ladies' Gallery III. i. 23 A young girl..who was coming out at a matinée. |
o. To make a formal entry into ‘society’ on reaching womanhood (a recognized indication of this in English society being presentation at court).
| 1782 F. Burney Cecilia vi. ii. (D.), She has seen nothing at all of the world, for she has never been presented yet, so she is not come out, you know; but she's to come out next year. 1806–7 J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life (1826) xv. xv, A practical hint afforded by the daughter, as she is ‘coming out’ that it is time for Mamma to think of going in. 1850 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. xxii. 224 These jewels I'm going to give you when you come out. I wore them to my first ball. |
p. To make public profession of religion. U.S. dial.
| 1860 Widow Bedott Papers 108 (Bartlett), Them special efforts is great things—ever since I come out, I've felt like a new critter. |
68. come out of. a. lit. To issue or emerge from; to be brought or exported from (a place).
| c 1225 St. Marher. 2 Ter com ut of asie toward antioche. c 1340 Cursor M. 23204 (Trin.) He þat doukeþ ones þer doun Comeþ neuer out of þat prisoun. a 1498 J. Warkworth Chron. (Camd. Soc.) 2 Thei came oute of the castelle. 1553 in Camden Misc. (1853) II. Request 10 And corn, which commeth so plentuously oute of Pollande. 1611 Bible Mark v. 2 When hee was come out of the ship. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 142 ¶4, I am just come out of the Country. 1808 Scott Marm. v. xii, O, young Lochinvar is come out of the west. |
b. To emerge from (a state or condition); to escape or extricate oneself from, get out of.
| c 1220 Bestiary 56 in O.E. Misc., Hu he [the eagle] cumeð ut of elde. 1375 Barbour Bruce iii. 41 To withdraw ws, ws defendand, Till we cum owt off thar daunger. c 1420 Sir Amadace (Camd.) xxxi, Ȝette God may me sende of his sele, That I may..cum owte of this wo. 1611 Bible Rev. vii. 14 These are they which came out of great tribulation. 1677 A. Horneck Gt. Law Consid. iv. (1704) 103 When men..come out of their apprenticeship. 1710 Steele Tatler No. 212 ¶7 He is just come out of the Small-Pox. 1849 Tait's Mag. XVI. 184/1 They..came out of all the confiscations consequent on rebellion, better than they entered them. 1890 A. Conan Doyle Capt. ‘Polestar’, etc. 234 He came out of his reverie with a start. |
c. To issue or proceed from (a source, cause, antecedent, etc.).
| 1605 Bacon Adv. Learn. i. vii. §13 A speech..liker to have comen out of the mouth of Aristotle, or Democritus. 1792 in Ann. Reg. 1826, Hist. & Biog. 162/2 Something will come out of all this. 1847 Emerson Repr. Men, Plato Wks. (Bohn) I. 288 Out of Plato come all things that are still written and debated among men of thought. 1849 Tait's Mag. XVI. 78/2 Can good come out of such bloody scenes? 1875 Jevons Money (1878) 117 It..comes out of the economy with which the work is managed. |
d. To extend or lead out of (a place); to project or grow out of. (Cf. 5.)
| c 1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. (MS. A.) 26 Þe toþer arterie þat comeþ out of þe lift-side of þe herte. 1611 Bible Hab. iii. 4 He had hornes comming out of his hand. 1663 Gerbier Counsel 72 The Staires comming out of the Lodgings into Saint James Parke. |
69. come out (with) (cf. 7, and 67 m.). To bring out; to publish, utter, give vent to. Phr. to come right out with: to blurt out a remark; to speak frankly or tactlessly; also ellipt. (N. Amer. colloq.).
| c 1460 Towneley Myst. 194 Be it hole worde or brokyn, com out with som. 1589 Pappe w. Hatchet (1844) 41 Pasquil is coming out with the liues of the Saints. 1685 Gracian's Courtier's Orac. 10 If he come out with a saying, it is to amuse the attention of his Rivals. 1837 Dickens Pickw. vi, Mr. Winkle came out with jokes which are very well known in town. 1871 H. James Watch & Ward (1960) xi. 24 Do you know what he intimated? Indeed, he came right out with it. 1928 Sat. Even. Post 7 Jan. 8/1 Why don't you come right out and say how it happened? 1934 J. O'Hara Appt. Samarra (1935) iv. 99 Well, Kitty, you know how she is. Comes right out with it. 1941 I. Baird He rides Sky 47 Hey, Mum, come right out and tell us just where you bought that millinery mayhem or did you rob a grave? 1966 Toronto Daily Star 1 Mar. 39/1 After considerable hinting, she finally came right out and asked for the painting. |
70. come over. a. lit. To come, passing over a river, sea, mountain, or simply, intervening space; to cross.
| 1605 Shakes. Lear iii. vi. 30 She dares not come over to thee. 1611 Bible Acts xvi 9 There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come ouer into Macedonia, and helpe vs. 1760 Voy. W.G. Vaughan II. 4 The same captain I came over with to Calais. 1827 Scott Tales Grandf. Ser. i. iv, The Percies are descended from a great Norman baron, who came over with William. 1848 Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 343 A bookseller named Michael Johnson..came over from Lichfield. |
† b. To come upon one, alight, descend. Obs.
| 1382 Wyclif Prov. xxvi. 2 So curs in veyn spoken in to sum man shal comen ouer. |
c. To pass over during distillation.
| 1641 French Distill. ii. (1651) 50 Distill them..and there will come over a water of no small vertue. 1793 T. Beddoes Calculus, etc. 239 If the heat applied be too great, carbonic acid air will come over instead of oxygene air. |
d. To change sides, passing to that with which the speaker identifies himself.
| 1576 Fleming Panoplie Ep. 119 Yet notwithstanding, tenne of the best and chiefest of his horsemen, came over unto mee. 1655–60 Stanley Hist. Philos. (1701) 117/2 Cleander came over to them. 1687 Burnet Contn. Refl. Varillas 141 Many of the Earl of Pembroke's men came over to him. 1774 Goldsmith Hist. Greece I. 282 This made the rest..come over to Demosthenes's opinion. 1826 Disraeli Viv. Grey vii. i, The Prince has come over..he is going to live at Court. |
† e. To prevail, use persuasion successfully. Obs. Cf. come over one, 46 f.
| 1742 Richardson Pamela IV. 156 Have you thus come over with me, Pamela? |
f. In colloq. phrase, to come over faint, come over sick, come over ill, and the like: to have a feeling of faintness, etc., come over one.
| 1922 ‘R. Crompton’ Just—William xi. 213 ‘I jus'—jus' came over queer,’ he ended, remembering a phrase he had heard used recently by the charwoman. 1936 Wodehouse Laughing Gas iii. 37 You can't tick a bloke off properly unless you come over a bit mid-Victorian. 1938 E. Bowen Death of Heart ii. vii. 303 Your marvellous yellow coat might make me come over queer. 1938 R. G. Collingwood Princ. Art v. 83 Sound knockabout entertainers..suddenly come over all solemn. 1960 N. F. Simpson Resounding Tinkle ii. 118 There was nothing wrong with him..and then next day he came over funny at work. |
g. To succeed in conveying one's meaning or in creating a particular impression.
| 1963 Guardian 26 Jan. 5/2 In the novel the dissolute lover ‘came over’ as much more than a debaucher. 1968 I. Lambot Queen dies First xii. 88 He's a damned good administrator, but somehow, he doesn't come over, as a person. He takes a lot of getting to know. |
71. come round. a. To come by a circuitous route; to come in the course of a circuit, or in taking a walk round; to come in an incidental or informal way.
| 1826 Cobbett Rur. Rides (1885) II. 49 My sons came round, in the chaise, by Andover and Weyhill. 1837 Dickens Pickw. xxxviii, Every time he [the lamplighter] comes round. 1888 F. Warden Witch of the Hills II. xxii. 176 She said she might come round this evening. |
b. To come with the revolution of time or events.
| a 1625 Fletcher Bloody Bro. v. ii, Farewell, my sorrows, and my tears take truce, My wishes are come round. 1842 Tennyson Lady Clare v, ‘O God be thank'd!’ said Alice the nurse, ‘That all comes round so just and fair.’ 1844 Fraser's Mag. 572/2 A new order of things had come round. 1888 B. W. Richardson Son of a Star III. xiv. 248 The festivals come round and the people assemble. |
c. To veer round, as the wind, to a more favourable quarter; to turn favourably in opinion.
| 1818 Todd, To come round, to change; as, the wind came round. 1825 New Monthly Mag. XIV. 363, I begin..to come round to my uncle's opinion. 1852 Dickens Bleak Ho. xx, I had confident expectations that things would come round. |
d. To return to a normal state or to a better mood after a fit of ill temper; to recover from a swoon, illness, etc.
| 1841 Ld. Mount-Temple in Life Shaftesbury x. (1887) 209 It's better to give them time to come round. 1861 Dickens Gt. Expect. xvi, She came round so far as to be helped down stairs. 1865 Trollope Belton Est. xv. 169 She..allowed him to go on with his grumbling. He would come round by degrees. |
72. come through. a. To succeed, attain an end; spec. to attain conversion. Chiefly U.S.
| 1881 H. W. Pierson In Brush 172 They could scarcely speak for hoarseness—enjoyed seeing them ‘come through’ (the vernacular for conversion). 1886 A. Edwardes Playwright's Dau. xvi, You will do as I tell you, and, please God, shall come through without a singe. 1912 C. Mathewson Pitching ii. 33, I have been told that Clarke was the most relieved man in seven counties when O'Toole came through with that victory in Boston. 1913 G. S. Porter Laddie xii. 355 Leon said our house reminded him of the mourners' bench before anyone had ‘come through’. Ibid. xv. 494 Pretty soon it began to look like she was going to come through as Amos Hurd did when he was redeemed. 1917 D. H. Lawrence (title) Look! we have come through! |
b. To act as desired or expected; to provide required information, money, etc. (see quot. 1914).
| 1914 Jackson & Hellyer Vocab. Criminal Slang 25 Come through,..to give up, to deliver, to surrender any secret information or any material goods demanded. 1949 J. B. Priestley Home is Tomorrow i. 2 Dayton. Can't tell you yet. Jill. When can you? Dayton. Soon. Depends on you, though. When you come through, then I'll come through. 1969 R. V. Beste Next Time I'll Pay iii. 35, I had to twist his arm a bit but he came through. |
c. To emerge, to be apparent, to succeed in giving a favourable impression.
| 1947 L. Hastings Dragons are Extra ix. 200 An attractive personality that ‘came through’. 1965 Listener 20 May 731/2 The picture of Lyndon Johnson as a teacher..came through strikingly when the President recently visited a newly organized Job Corp Camp in Maryland. |
73. come to. a. Analytical form of OE. tó-cuman to arrive, come, to be present; L. advenīre.
| c 975 Rushw. Gosp. Matt. vi. 10 Cume to þin rice [Lindisf. to-cymeð ric ðin]. 1382 Wyclif Matt. xxvi. 60 Whenne many fals witnessis hadden cummen to. |
b. Naut. To come to a standstill, rest, or fixed position; also, to come ‘close to the wind’.
| 1726 G. Shelvocke Voy. round World iii. (1757) 99 In the fright he had forgot he had a graplin in the boat to come to with. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) Rarrivée, the movement of coming-to, after having fallen off, when a ship is lying-by, or trying. 1805 A. Duncan Mariner's Chron. III. 225 They resolved, being near shoal water..to come-to, and rest themselves for the night. 1840 R. Dana Bef. Mast xxiv, The gale having gone over, we came-to. |
c. To come round to reconciliation, accord, or a pleasant mood. Obs. exc. dial.
| 1701 Swift Mrs. Harris' Petit., What if after all my chaplain won't come to? 1765 Logan in Pa. Hist. Soc. Mem. X. 8 For a long time behaved oddly, but he has come to again. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones xviii. viii, I thought Sophia was a just coming to. 1890 (Still common dialectally). |
d. To recover (from a swoon, etc.); to revive, come round.
| a 1572 Knox Hist. Ref. 275 (Jam.) Thoch I be not in perfyte helthe, yet I find myself in very gude in the cuming to. 1832 Marryat N. Forster xlix, Isabel was the first to come to. 1861 Dickens Gt. Expect. iv, He had just been all but choked, and had that moment come to. 1879 Browning Ivan Ivanovitch 55 Chafe away, keep chafing, for she moans: She's coming to! |
74. come up. a. lit. To come from a lower to a higher position, or to a place viewed as higher, or as a centre, e.g. the capital, or a university. spec. To present oneself before a judge or tribunal for (rarely to) judgement.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xl. §13 He cymþ eastan up. 1516 in E. Lodge Illust. Brit. Hist. (1791) I. 15 If I shulde com up to London the next terme. 1726 Swift Gulliver (1869) 60/2 They came up to town. 1777 Sheridan Sch. Scand. iv. iii, I thought you would not choose Sir Peter to come up without announcing him. 1844 Dickens in Story of his Life 156, I am here—just come up from underground. 1888 ‘F. Warden’ Woman's Face II. xvii. 171 He felt as if he himself had come up to judgement before a stern and unbending judge. 1890 Sat. Rev. 20 Dec. 698/1 The order to come up for judgement if required. a 1891 Mod. He is coming up to Balliol College next term. |
b. To come close forward (to). to come up smiling, to recover from a round in a boxing-match and face what is to come cheerfully; also transf. and fig.
| 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. Prol. 70 Þe lewede Men..comen vp knelynge. c 1386 Chaucer Pard. T. 582 Com vp ye wyues, offreth of your wolle. 1666 Temple Lett. I. 55 When he came up, tho' with much Civility. 1688 Miege Fr. Dict., To come up, accoster, aborder. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 106 ¶7 The Gentleman we were talking of came up to us. 1714 W. Edmundson Jrnl. 34 Wm. Moore going by saw me standing and coming up to me said, etc. 1862 Trollope Orley F. xiv. 109 As he spoke he came up to her and took her hand. 1886 M{supc}Carthy & Praed Right Hon'ble II. xv. 47 One comes up smiling and ready for the next round. 1928 Daily Tel. 13 Mar. 16/3 His car..can be rubbed down dry,..and, as the phrase goes, it will come up smiling. 1931 Wodehouse If I were You iv. 51 You come up smiling after having a whacking great car run into you. |
c. Of persons following: To come right forward from the rear; esp. to come up with, to come so as to be abreast of, to overtake; to reach. Also fig. in phr. to come up with: to get even with, get the better of. U.S. Phr. to come up with the rations: see ration n.
| 1678 Bunyan Pilgr. i. 35 Just as Christian came up with the Cross. 1699 W. Dampier Voy. II. ii. i. 34 Though we followed..a good way, yet did not come up with him. 1714 W. Edmundson Jrnl. 67 When we came up with the Land of Ireland the wind turn'd North East. 1781 Ann. Reg., Hist. Europe 55/2 Tarleton came up with his enemy at eight in the morning. Ibid. 59/2 The rear of the column being come up. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. 243 Macarthy soon came up to support Hamilton. 1856 Harper's Mag. XII. 710/1 One of our smart young lawyers was well come up with the other day. 1863 Kingsley Water-bab. 12 Soon they came up with a poor Irishwoman. 1871 Mrs. Stowe Oldtown Fireside Stories 180 He thought he must have his say with Miry, but he got pretty well come up with. Ibid., The way he got come-up-with by Miry was too funny for anything. 1873 S. Hale Lett. (1919) 123 She gets come up with occasionally, and then I'm delighted. 1901 S. E. White Westerners xi. 78 Revenge with him seemed to lie..in the victim's realization that he was being come up with. |
d. To spring up out of the ground, as a plant.
| 1535 Coverdale Job xiv. 2 He commeth vp and falleth awaye like a floure. 1545 R. Ascham Toxoph. i. (Arb.) 28 The corne commeth thinne up. 1860 Geo. Eliot Mill on Fl. i. v, The same flowers come up again every spring. 1884 J. H. Ewing Mary's Meadow xi. (1886) 66 The time-honoured prescription, ‘Plant a primrose upside down, and it will come up a polyanthus’. |
e. To take rise, originate, come into use, become the fashion.
| c 1449 Pecock Repr. (Rolls) 246 Thus miche is ynouȝ..forto knowe how ydolatrie came up. 1549 Latimer's Serm. ii. To Rdr. (Arb.) 51 Belyke they [termes] wer not used and commen up in his time. 1593 Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, iv. ii. 10 Well, I say, it was neuer merrie world in England, since Gentlemen came up. 1704 Swift T. Tub Wks. (1869) 62/1 Before they were a month in town, great shoulder-knots came up. 1847 L. Hunt Men, Women, & Bks. I. ix. 161 This gentleman, who died not long after policemen came up. |
† f. To rise in rank or position. Obs.
| 1530 Palsgr. 425, I am come up, as a man is that from povertie is come to rychesse..He his mervaylously come up within a yere or two. 1535 Coverdale 2 Chron. xxi. 4 When Ioram came vp ouer his fathers kyngdome. 1561 Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtyer (1577) Y vj b, No[t] to seeke to come vp by any noughty or subtil practise. |
g. To present itself as the subject of attention; to arise, to turn up; to rise in the mind.
| 1844 Fraser's Mag. XXX. 102/2 Now and then a name would come up in the conversation which I remembered. 1886 Mrs. C. Praed Miss Jacobsen's Chance II. x. 138 Chepstowe's talk..would keep coming up in her mind and disturbing all her efforts. 1889 Sat. Rev. 23 Nov. 582/1 That [question] has not come up, and is not likely to come up for many years. |
h. To rise in amount or value; to amount to; to rise to the level or height of; to attain to some standard or requirement, to equal.
| 1611 Shakes. Wint. T. ii. i. 193 He Whose ignorant credulitie, will not Come vp to th' truth. 1695 Woodward Nat. Hist. Earth (J.), All these will not come up to near the quantity requisite. 1708 Swift Sacram. Test, We of Ireland are not yet come up to other folks refinements. 1711 Addison Spect. No. 62 ¶8 These Writers..not being able to come up to the beautiful Simplicity of the old Greeks and Romans. 1750 R. Pultock Life P. Wilkins xx. (1883) 60/1 No tailor can come up to it. 1820 Examiner No. 622. 173/1 His vocal pieces do not come up to Mozart's. 1889 Mrs. E. Kennard Landing a Prize III. vi. 118 The results did not quite come up to his anticipations. |
i. Naut. To come to a direction; to come as near to the wind as a ship will bear.
| 1633 T. James Voy. 19 The winde..came vp at South. 1649 Narborough Acc. Sev. Late Voy. i. (1711) 169 At 11 in the Forenoon the Wind came up at SSE. and foggy. 1743 Bulkeley & Cummins Voy. S. Seas 17 The greatest Part of the Night she came up no nearer than S. by W. and S.S.W. At Four in the Morning she came up with her Head West. 1833 Marryat P. Simple xv, She has come up again. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. s.v., A close-hauled ship comes up (to her course) as the wind changes in her favour. |
j. Naut. trans. To slacken (a rope, cable, etc.).
| 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. s.v. Capstain, Come up Capstan, that is, slack the Cable which you heave by. 1849 Weale Dict. Terms 114/2 To ‘come up’ a rope or tackle, is to slack it off. c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 107 To come up, to cast loose the forelocks or lashings of a sett, in order to take in closer to the plank. |
k. In the imperative, a call to a horse. dial.
| 1877 N.W. Linc. Gloss., Come-up, said to horses to urge them on. 1884 Chesh. Gloss., Come up, an expression used to an animal when it is required to move. 1888 Under-Currents I. i. 3 He..implores them [horses] to ‘come up’ or ‘go on’, as occasion demands. |
l. marry come up! see marry. m. Colloq. phr. to come up with: to produce, provide, present. orig. U.S.
| 1934 F. S. Fitzgerald Let. 7 Feb. (1964) 244 Crownin⁓shield grows old and Ross comes up with The New Yorker. 1955 Times 6 Aug. 6/3 President Eisenhower..thought the Secretary of Agriculture soon would be ‘able to come up with something’. 1958 Economist 1 Nov. 392/2 Russia has come up with money that the West clumsily refused. 1966 Listener 27 Oct. 631/3 There is a certain erratic charm in BBC-2's Europa. It could come up with anything. 1970 J. Porter Rather Common sort of Crime ii. 19 I'll have a ponder about it and, if I come up with anything, I'll let you know. |
n. coming up, a colloq. phr., used by bartenders, cooks, waiters, etc., to indicate that food or drink is ready or being prepared.
| 1942 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang 765 Come and get it, coming up, on deck, take it away, the cook's announcement that the dish is ready. 1968 L. Deighton Only when I Larf xiv. 183 ‘Perhaps a coca-cola.’ ‘Coca-cola coming up,’ said Spencer. 1968 L. Smith Fear & Dead Man i. 9 ‘I'll have another cup of coffee, Harry.’ ‘Coming up, sir,’ Harry said. |
☛Phrase-key. (The prepositional constructions in VIII, and adverbial combinations in IX, are not included.) Come! imp. 34; come pres. conj. 35; come Easter, etc. 36; come eight days, etc. 36 b; coming! 37; coming or going, 27 e; coming six, etc. 31; (time) to come, 33; to coming, 33 β; come (as butter or cheese), 15; come a-begging, etc. 3 c; come and—, 3 d; c and go, 27; c a cropper, 30 b; c cheap, 25 b, c; c day, go day, 20 b; c down in the world, 60 e; c down upon, 60 g; c down with, 60 h; c easy, 25 b, c; c from, 11; c in for, 63 0; c in place, 24; c in sight or view, 6; c in useful, etc. 63 j; c in one's way, 6 b; c in with, 63 n; c into action, contact, etc. 12; c into bloom, ear, flower, etc. 12 b; c into court, market, 4 b; c into one's head, mind, 10 b; c into view, 6; c into the world, 4 c; c it, 28, 29, 30 a; c it over, 29 c; c natural, 25 c; c off, 17; c on! 67 f; c out with, 70; c thanks, 32; c to all, 48 g; c to be or to do, 3 b, 24 b; c to bear, 2 b; c to an end, 5 b; c to a halt, 2 c; c to a point, 5 b; c to one's knowledge, 10 b; c to little, much, nothing, 48 g; c to oneself, one's senses, 48 h; c to one's turn, 23; c to pass, 22; c to place, 24; c to the bar, the hammer, 4 b; c to the rescue, 4 a; c to the worst, 48 g; c to think of it, 24 b; c true, 25 c; c under notice, etc. 6 b; c undone, unput, unstuck, 25 d; c upon the parish, 51 f; c one's ways, 3 g; c within (one's) reach, within the scope of, 6 b.
For other phrases, as come amiss, home, short, speed, of age, to anchor, to blows, to close quarters, to grief, to hand, to heel, to life, to light, to nature, to the front, to the point, to terms, to time, to an understanding, up to the mark, to the scratch, come you seven, etc., see under these words.
▸ to come up v. Brit. slang. Of a person: to start to feel the effects of a recreational drug (esp. ecstasy or LSD).
| [1971 E. E. Landy Underground Dict. 54 Come on,..begin to experience the effects of a drug.] 1989 Q Jan. 11/2 What's more the music and dancing made you feel good anyway and the people who took it [sc. Ecstasy] seemed to come up smiling. 1997N. Blincoe in S. Champion Disco Biscuits 11 He could tell by his eyes he was coming up. The pupils were spreading like ink blots to cover the whole of his eye ball. |
▸ to come up for air: to surface (from underwater) in order to take a breath. Also in extended use: to take a break from an activity.
| 1749 T. Salmon New Geogr. & Hist. Gram. 182 After the Whale has run some hundred Fathoms deep, he is forced to come up for Air. 1862 Thackeray Adventures of Philip II. x. 223 We have left the general dipping his nose in the brandy-and-water... He must come up for air presently. 1926 J. M. March Wild Party (1928) ii. iii. 49 Burrs and Kate lay locked In a five-minute kiss... They stirred: They unlocked: They came up for air. 1954 Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 98 225 They seem to be having a very good time among themselves..and we can merely hope that they will later come up for air and tell us in a common language what it is all about. 2006 Gazette (Montreal) (Nexis) 1 Dec. d1 They swim for their lives in underwater caves, coming up for air in spaces barely large enough to draw a breath. |
▪ II. come, n.1
(kʌm)
Forms: 1 cyme, cime, 3 kime, keome, kume, cume, 4 cum, cumme, coome, comme, 4–5 come, com.
[OE. cyme:—OTeut. type *kumi-z, vbl. abstr. f. kuman to come: cf. ryne course, byge bend, etc. Of this the mod. repr. would have been kim; but in early ME. the n. was assimilated to the vb.]
† 1. Approach, arrival, coming. Obs.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xxxix. §13 Morᵹensteorra bodaþ þære sunnan cyme. c 975 Rushw. Gosp. Matt. xxiv. 3 Hwylc tacun þines cymes. c 1205 Lay. 3962 Þe king wes gled for his kime [1275 come]. Ibid. 28141 Of þine kume [1275 keome] nis na wene. a 1225 Leg. Kath. 26 Of his cume careles. a 1300 Cursor M. 5319 Of his com þe king was fain. Ibid. 17920 (Gött.) Bodword of his cum to bring. c 1400 Destr. Troy 375 The cause of his come. c 1470 Henry Wallace x. 246 Thair cruell com maid cowardis for to quaik. [Still in comp.: income, outcome, downcome, etc.] |
2. come and go: see come-and-go.
3. Sc. ‘Growth, the act of vegetation; as there's a come in the ground, there is a considerable degree of vegetation’ (Jamieson).
4. Applied to a flow or flood of water. ? local.
| 1862 Temple Bar V. 110 The plan is not often adopted, except where the ‘come’ of water is rather near to the surface. 1935 A. J. Cronin Stars look Down i. xx. 191 It appeared to me there was quite a come of water in Scupper Flats. |
5. [f. come v.] Semen ejaculated at sexual climax, esp. spilt ejaculate. Also (rarely), fluid secreted by the vagina during sexual play. Cf. come v. 17. slang.
| 1923 J. Manchon Le Slang 90 Come, sperme. 1967 R. Brautigan Trout Fishing in Amer. 25 The walls, the floor and even the roof of the hut were coated with your sperm and her come. 1969 P. Roth Portnoy's Complaint 183 Tell me! what did she do with your hot come! 1976 Miss London 23 Aug. 12/4 His attitude to sex is ambivalent. ‘Each night I had to clean the come off the back seat of the cab,’ he remarks in reasonable disgust. |
▸ come shot n. (also cum shot) slang (orig. U.S.) a sequence, in a pornographic film, showing ejaculation (cf. money shot n. at money n. Compounds 2).
| 1973 W. Rotsler Contemp. Erotic Cinema 211 We had an unwritten rule that we did not use an external *come shot in a film... Come shots seem to be one of those strange conventions as if to say, ‘See it's really real!’ That they really did do it. 1989 Playboy May 57/1 Therefore, in place of love, we get lust; instead of tenderness, we get machismo. The only connection between men and women is genital, and a woman's orgasm gets edged out by ‘come shots’. 2001 FHM Feb. 19/2 We don't go for any really close-up gynaecological shots and we don't ever do cum shots. |
▪ III. come, n.2 Now chiefly dial.
(kəʊm, kuːm)
Also 5 pl. comys, 7 coom, 9 coomb, comb.
[Known only from 15th c., but app. cognate with mod.G. keim in same sense, and thus repr. an OE. *cám:—OTeut. type *kaimo- in ablaut relation to *kîmo-, *kîmon-, whence OHG. chîm, chîmo. It has app. been sometimes confused with prec.; cf. come v. in sense 14.]
The radicle of barley or other grain which in malting is allowed to develop to a certain point, and is then dried up by the process of roasting, and afterwards separated from the malt. In earlier quots. the acrospire was perhaps included.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 89 Comys of malte [1499 commys], pululata. 1615 Markham Eng. Housew. ii. vii. (1668) 171 You shall rub it [the Malt] exceeding well between your hands, to get the Come or sprouting clean away. Ibid., The falling off of the come or sprout when it is throughly dryed. 1671 Grew Anat. Plants i. i. 3 In Corn [the Radicle] is that Part, which Malsters, upon its shooting forth, call the Come. 1783 Ainsworth Lat. Dict. (Morell) i. Come, small strings of malt. 1872 Oliver Elem. Bot. ii. 279 The sprouted radicles (called coombs or chives) are broken off and separated. 1888 W. Somerset Word-bk. s.v. Combings, In the process of malting each corn of barley grows a very distinct root—called combings or combs. |
▪ IV. † come, n.3 Obs.
[a. OF. come, ad. L. cōma hair of the head, foliage or top of a tree, etc.]
The ‘head’ of any plant: cf. coma2 1 c.
| 1578 Lyte Dodoens ii. lix. 225 Y⊇ floures grow in a spiky bushe or tuffet..like to Cuckow Orchis..sauing they lacke suche a come or coppe. |
▪ V. come, pa. pple.
(kʌm)
of come v., used adjectively in comb., as new come, come out, come down.
| 1562 Jewel Apol. Ch. Eng. v. i, A new comen up matter. 1606 W. Birnie Kirk-Buriall (1833) 15 Being but of the newest come-ouer antiquity. 1623 Lisle ælfric on O. & N.T. Pref., A new come doctrine. 1623 Meade in Ellis Orig. Lett. i. 295 III. 160 The new come-home guests. 1865 Mrs. Gaskell in Cornh. Mag. Mar. 324 If I were a come-out young lady. 1886 Pall Mall G. 26 May 4/2, I have talked with a good many of these come-down ones. |
▪ VI. come
obs. form of comb, coom, coomb1.