Come \Come\, v. i. [imp. Came; p. p. Come; p. pr & vb. n. Coming.]

[OE. cumen, comen, AS. cuman; akin to OS. kuman, D. komen, OHG. queman, G. kommen, Icel. koma, Sw. komma, Dan. komme, Goth. giman, L. venire (gvenire), Gr. ? to go, Skr. gam. [root]23. Cf. Base, n., Convene, Adventure.]

1. To move hitherward; to draw near; to approach the speaker, or some place or person indicated; -- opposed to go.

Look, who comes yonder? --Shak.

I did not come to curse thee. --Tennyson.

2. To complete a movement toward a place; to arrive.

When we came to Rome. --Acts xxviii. 16.

Lately come from Italy. --Acts xviii. 2.

3. To approach or arrive, as if by a journey or from a distance. ``Thy kingdom come.'' --Matt. vi. 10.

The hour is coming, and now is. --John. v. 25.

So quick bright things come to confusion. --Shak.

4. To approach or arrive, as the result of a cause, or of the act of another.

From whence come wars? --James iv. 1.

Both riches and honor come of thee ! --1 Chron. xxix. 12.

5. To arrive in sight; to be manifest; to appear.

Then butter does refuse to come. --Hudibras.

6. To get to be, as the result of change or progress; -- with a predicate; as, to come untied.

How come you thus estranged? --Shak.

How come her eyes so bright? --Shak.

Note: Am come, is come, etc., are frequently used instead of have come, has come, etc., esp. in poetry. The verb to be gives a clearer adjectival significance to the participle as expressing a state or condition of the subject, while the auxiliary have expresses simply the completion of the action signified by the verb.

Think not that I am come to destroy. --Matt. v. 17.

We are come off like Romans. --Shak.

The melancholy days are come, the saddest of the year. --Bryant.

Note: Come may properly be used (instead of go) in speaking of a movement hence, or away, when there is reference to an approach to the person addressed; as, I shall come home next week; he will come to your house to-day. It is used with other verbs almost as an auxiliary, indicative of approach to the action or state expressed by the verb; as, how came you to do it? Come is used colloquially, with reference to a definite future time approaching, without an auxiliary; as, it will be two years, come next Christmas; i. e., when Christmas shall come.

They were cried In meeting, come next Sunday. --Lowell. Come, in the imperative, is used to excite attention, or to invite to motion or joint action; come, let us go. ``This is the heir; come, let us kill him.'' --Matt. xxi. 38. When repeated, it sometimes expresses haste, or impatience, and sometimes rebuke. ``Come, come, no time for lamentation now.'' --Milton.

To come, yet to arrive, future. ``In times to come.'' --Dryden. ``There's pippins and cheese to come.'' --Shak.

To come about.
   (a) To come to pass; to arrive; to happen; to result; as, how did these things come about?
   (b) To change; to come round; as, the ship comes about. ``The wind is come about.'' --Shak.

On better thoughts, and my urged reasons, They are come about, and won to the true side. --B. Jonson.

To come abroad.
   (a) To move or be away from one's home or country. ``Am come abroad to see the world.'' --Shak.
   (b) To become public or known. [Obs.]

``Neither was anything kept secret, but that it should come abroad.'' --Mark. iv. 22.

To come across, to meet; to find, esp. by chance or suddenly. ``We come across more than one incidental mention of those wars.'' --E. A. Freeman. ``Wagner's was certainly one of the strongest and most independent natures I ever came across.'' --H. R. Haweis.

To come after.
   (a) To follow.
   (b) To come to take or to obtain; as, to come after a book.

To come again, to return. ``His spirit came again and he revived.'' --Judges. xv. 19. -

To come and go.
   (a) To appear and disappear; to change; to alternate. ``The color of the king doth come and go.'' --Shak.
   (b) (Mech.) To play backward and forward.

To come at.
   (a) To reach; to arrive within reach of; to gain; as, to come at a true knowledge of ourselves.
   (b) To come toward; to attack; as, he came at me with fury.

To come away, to part or depart.

To come between, to intervene; to separate; hence, to cause estrangement.

To come by.
   (a) To obtain, gain, acquire. ``Examine how you came by all your state.'' --Dryden.
   (b) To pass near or by way of.

To come down.
   (a) To descend.
   (b) To be humbled.

To come down upon, to call to account, to reprimand. [Colloq.]

--Dickens.

To come home.
   (a) To return to one's house or family.
   (b) To come close; to press closely; to touch the feelings, interest, or reason.
   (c) (Naut.) To be loosened from the ground; -- said of an anchor.

To come in.
   (a) To enter, as a town, house, etc. ``The thief cometh in.'' --Hos. vii. 1.
   (b) To arrive; as, when my ship comes in.
   (c) To assume official station or duties; as, when Lincoln came in.
   (d) To comply; to yield; to surrender. ``We need not fear his coming in'' --Massinger.
   (e) To be brought into use. ``Silken garments did not come in till late.'' --Arbuthnot.
   (f) To be added or inserted; to be or become a part of.
   (g) To accrue as gain from any business or investment.
   (h) To mature and yield a harvest; as, the crops come in well.
   (i) To have sexual intercourse; -- with to or unto. --Gen. xxxviii. 16.
   (j) To have young; to bring forth; as, the cow will come in next May. [U. S.]

To come in for, to claim or receive. ``The rest came in for subsidies.'' --Swift.

To come into, to join with; to take part in; to agree to; to comply with; as, to come into a party or scheme.

To come it over, to hoodwink; to get the advantage of. [Colloq.]

To come near or nigh, to approach in place or quality; to be equal to. ``Nothing ancient or modern seems to come near it.'' --Sir W. Temple.

To come of.
   (a) To descend or spring from. ``Of Priam's royal race my mother came.'' --Dryden.
   (b) To result or follow from. ``This comes of judging by the eye.'' --L'Estrange.

To come off.
   (a) To depart or pass off from.
   (b) To get free; to get away; to escape.
   (c) To be carried through; to pass off; as, it came off well.
   (d) To acquit one's self; to issue from (a contest, etc.); as, he came off with honor; hence, substantively, a come-off, an escape; an excuse; an evasion. [Colloq.]


   (e) To pay over; to give. [Obs.]


   (f) To take place; to happen; as, when does the race come off?
   (g) To be or become after some delay; as, the weather came off very fine.
   (h) To slip off or be taken off, as a garment; to separate.
   (i) To hurry away; to get through. --Chaucer.

To come off by, to suffer. [Obs.]

``To come off by the worst.'' --Calamy.

To come off from, to leave. ``To come off from these grave disquisitions.'' --Felton.

To come on.
   (a) To advance; to make progress; to thrive.
   (b) To move forward; to approach; to supervene.

To come out.
   (a) To pass out or depart, as from a country, room, company, etc. ``They shall come out with great substance.'' --Gen. xv. 14.
   (b) To become public; to appear; to be published. ``It is indeed come out at last.'' --Bp. Stillingfleet.
   (c) To end; to result; to turn out; as, how will this affair come out? he has come out well at last.
   (d) To be introduced into society; as, she came out two seasons ago.
   (e) To appear; to show itself; as, the sun came out.
   (f) To take sides; to take a stand; as, he came out against the tariff.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)