[come again] <v.>, <informal> Please repeat; please say that again. - Usually used as a command. * /"Harry has just come into a fortune," my wife said. "Come again? " I asked her, not believing it./ * /"Come again," said the hard-of-hearing man./
[come alive] or [come to life] <v.> 1. <informal> To become alert or attentive; wake up and look alive; become active. * /When Mr. Simmons mentioned money, the boys came alive./ * /Bob pushed the starter button, and the engine came alive with a roar./ 2. To look real; take on a bright, natural look. * /Under skillful lighting, the scene came alive./ * /The President came alive in the picture as the artist worked./
[come along] <v.> To make progress; improve; succeed. * /He was coming along well after the operation./ * /Rose is coming right along on the piano./
[come a long way] <v. phr.> To show much improvement; make great progress. * /The school has come a long way since its beginnings./ * /Little Jane has come a long way since she broke her leg./
[come apart at the seams] <v. phr.>, <slang>, <informal> To become upset to the point where one loses self-control and composure as if having suffered a sudden nervous breakdown. * /After his divorce Joe seemed to be coming apart at the seams./
[come around] See: COME ROUND.
[come at] <v.> 1. To approach; come to or against; advance toward. * /The young boxer came at the champion cautiously./ 2. To understand (a word or idea) or master (a skill); succeed with. * /The sense of an unfamiliar word is hard to come at./
[come back] <v.>, <informal> 1. To reply; answer. * /The lawyer came back sharply in defense of his client./ * /No matter how the audience heckled him, the comedian always had an answer to come back with./ 2. To get a former place or position back, reach again a place which you have lost. * /After a year off to have her baby, the singer came back to even greater fame./ * /It is hard for a retired prize fighter to come hack and beat a younger man./
[comeback] <n.>, <v. phr.>, <slang>, <citizen's band radio jargon> A return call. * /Thanks for your comeback./
[come back to earth] or [come down to earth] <v. phr.> To return to the real world; stop imagining or dreaming; think and behave as usual. * /After Jane met the movie star it was hard for her to come back to earth./ * /Bill was sitting and daydreaming so his mother told him to come down to earth and to do his homework./ Compare: COME TO ONE'S SENSES, DOWN-TO-EARTH. Contrast: IN THE CLOUDS.
[come between] <v.> To part; divide; separate. * /John's mother-in-law came to live in his home, and as time passed she came between him and his wife./ * /Bill's hot rod came between him and his studies, and his grades went down./
[come by] <v.> To get; obtain; acquire. * /A good job like that is hard to come by./ * /Money easily come by is often easily spent./ * /How did she come by that money?/
[come by honestly] <v. phr.>, <informal> To inherit (a characteristic) from your parents. * /Joe comes by his hot temper honestly; his father is the same way./
[come clean] <v. phr.>, <slang> To tell all; tell the whole story; confess. * /The boy suspected of stealing the watch came clean after long questioning./
[comedown] <n.> Disappointment; embarrassment; failure. * /It was quite a comedown for Al when the girl he took for granted refused his marriage proposal./
[come down] <v.> 1. To reduce itself; amount to no more than. Followed by "to". * /The quarrel finally came down to a question of which boy would do the dishes./ Syn.: BOIL DOWN(3). 2. To be handed down or passed along, descend from parent to child; pass from older generation to younger ones. * /Mary's necklace had come down to her from her grandmother./
[come down hard on] <v.>, <informal> 1. To scold or punish strongly. * /The principal came down hard on the boys for breaking the window./ 2. To oppose strongly. * /The minister in his sermon came down hard on drinking./
[come down in the world] <v. phr.> To lose a place of respect or honor, become lower (as in rank or fortune). * /The stranger plainly had come down a long way in the world./ Compare: DOWN ON ONE'S LUCK.
[come down off one's high horse] <v. phr.> To become less arrogant; to assume a more modest disposition. * /The boastful candidate for Congress quickly came down off his high horse when he was soundly beaten by his opponent./
[come down on like a ton of bricks] <v. phr.>, <slang> To direct one's full anger at somebody. * /When the janitor was late for work, the manager came down on him like a ton of bricks./
[come down to earth] See: COME BACK TO EARTH.
[come down with] <v.>, <informal> To become sick with; catch. * /We all came down with the mumps./ * /After being out in the rain, George came down with a cold./
[come from far and wide] <v. phr.> To originate or hail from many different places. * /The students at this university come from far and wide and speak many languages./
[come full circle] <v. phr.>, <informal> 1. To become totally opposed to one's own earlier conviction on a given subject. * /Today's conservative businessperson has come full circle from former radical student days./ 2. To change and develop, only to end up where one started. * /From modern permissiveness, ideas about child raising have come full circle to the views of our grandparents./
[come hell or high water] <adv. phr.>, <informal> No matter what happens; whatever may come. * /Grandfather said he would go to the fair, come hell or high water./ Compare: COME WHAT MAY, THROUGH THE MILL.
[come home to roost] See: CHICKENS COME HOME TO ROOST.
[come in] <v.> 1. To finish in a sports contest or other competition. * /He came in second in the hundred-yard dash./ 2. To become the fashion; begin to be used. * /Swimming trunks for men came in after World War I; before that men used full swim suits./
[come in for] <v.> To receive. * /He came in for a small fortune when his uncle died./ * /His conduct came in for much criticism./
[come in handy] <v. phr.>, <informal> To prove useful. * /Robinson Crusoe found tools in the ship which came in handy when he built a house./ * /The French he learned in high school came in handy when he was in the army in France./
[come into] <v.> To receive, especially after another's death; get possession of. * /He came into a lot of money when his father died./ * /He came into possession of the farm after his uncle died./
[come into one's own] <v. phr.> To receive the wealth or respect that you should have. * /John's grandfather died and left him a million dollars; when John is 21, he will come into his own./ * /With the success of the Model T Ford, the automobile industry came into its own./
[came natural] See: COME EASY.
[come of] <v.> 1. To result from. * /After all the energy we spent on that advertising campaign, absolutely nothing came of it./ 2. To become of; happen to. * /"Whatever became of your son, Peter?"/
[come of age] See: OF AGE.
[come off] <v.> 1. To take place; happen. * /The picnic came off at last, after being twice postponed./ 2. <informal> To do well; succeed. * /The attempt to bring the quarreling couple together again came off, to people's astonishment./
[come off it] also [get off it] <v. phr.>, <slang> Stop pretending; bragging, or kidding; stop being silly. - Used as a command. * /"So I said to the duchess..." Jimmy began. "Oh, come off it," the other boys sneered./ * /Fritz said he had a car of his own. "Oh, come off it," said John. "You can't even drive."/
[come off] or [through with flying colors] <v. phr.> To succeed; triumph. * /John came off with flying colors in his final exams at college./
[come off second best] <v. phr.> To not win first but only second, third, etc. place. * /Our home team came off second best against the visitors./ * /Sue complains that she always comes off second best when she has a disagreement with her husband./
[come on] <v.> 1. To begin; appear. * /Rain came on toward morning./ * /He felt a cold coming on./ 2. To grow or do well; thrive. * /The wheat was coming on./ * /His business came on splendidly./ 3. or [come upon]. To meet accidentally; encounter; find. * /He came on an old friend that day when he visited his club./ * /He came upon an interesting idea in reading about the French Revolution./ Syn.: COME ACROSS, HAPPEN ON. 4. <informal> Let's get started; let's get going; don't delay; don't wait. - Used as a command. * /"Come on, or we'll he late," said Joe, but Lou still waited./ 5. <informal> Please do it! Used in begging someone to do something. * /Sing us just one song, Jane, come on!/ * /Come on, Laura, you can tell me. I won't tell anybody./
[come-on] <n.>, <slang> An attractive offer made to a naive person under false pretenses in order to gain monetary or other advantage. * /Joe uses a highly successful come-on when he sells vacant lots on Grand Bahama Island./
[come one's way] <v. phr.> To be experienced by someone; happen to you. * /Tom said that if the chance to become a sailor ever came his way, he would take it./ * /I hope bad luck isn't coming our way./ * /Luck came Bill's way today and he hit a home run./ Compare: GO ONE'S WAY, IN ONE'S FAVOR.
[come on strong] <v. phr.>, <slang> To overwhelm a weaker person with excessively strong language, personality, or mannerisms; to insist extremely strongly and claim something with unusual vigor. * /Joe came on very strong last night about the War in Indochina; most of us felt embarrassed./
[come out] <v.> 1. <Of a girl:> To be formally introduced to polite society at about age eighteen, usually at a party; begin to go to big parties, * /In society, girls come out when they reach the age of about eighteen, and usually it is at a big party in their honor; after that they are looked on as adults./ 2. To be published. * /The book came out two weeks ago./ 3. To become publicly known. * /The truth finally came out at his trial./ 4, To end; result; finish. * /How did the story come out?/ * /The game came out as we had hoped./ * /The snapshots came out well./ 5. To announce support or opposition; declare yourself (for or against a person or thing). * /The party leaders came out for an acceptable candidate./ * /Many Congressmen came out against the bill./ 6. See: GO OUT FOR.
[coming-out] <adj.> Introducing a girl to polite society. * /Mary's parents gave her a coming-out party when she was 17./
[come out for] <v. phr.> To support; declare oneself in favor of another, especially during a political election. * /Candidates for the presidency of the United States are anxious for the major newspapers to come out for them./
[come out in the open] <v. phr.> 1. To reveal one's true identity or intentions. * /Fred finally came out in the open and admitted that he was gay./ 2. To declare one's position openly. * /The conservative Democratic candidate came out in the open and declared that he would join the Republican party./
[come out with] <v. phr.> 1. To make a public announcement of; make known. * /He came out with a clear declaration of his principles./ 2. To say. * /He comes out with the funniest remarks you can imagine./
[come over] <v.> To take control of; cause sudden strong feeling in; happen to. * /A sudden fit of anger came over him./ * /A great tenderness came over her./ * /What has come over him?/
[come round] or [come around] <v.> 1. To happen or appear again and again in regular order. * /And so Saturday night came around again./ * /I will tell him when he comes round again./ 2. <informal> To get back health or knowledge of things; get well from sickness or a faint./ * /Someone brought out smelling salts and Mary soon came round./ * /Jim has come around after having had stomach ulcers./ 3. To change direction, * /The wind has come round to the south./ 4. <informal> To change your opinion or purpose to agree with another's. * /Tom came round when Dick told him the whole story./