[come to] <v.> (stress on "to") 1. To wake up after losing consciousness; get the use of your senses back again after fainting or being knocked out. * /She fainted in the store and found herself in the first aid room when she came to./ * /The boxer who was knocked out did not come to for five minutes./ * /The doctor gave her a pill and after she took it she didn't come to for two days./ Compare: BRING TO. 2. (stress on "come") To get enough familiarity or understanding to; learn to; grow to. - Used with an infinitive. * /John was selfish at first, but he came to realize that other people counted, too./ * /During her years at the school, Mary came to know that road well./ 3. To result in or change to; reach the point of; arrive at. * /Mr. Smith lived to see his invention come to success./ * /Grandfather doesn't like the way young people act today; he says, "I don't know what the world is coming to."/ 4. To have something to do with; be in the field of; be about. - Usually used in the phrase "when it comes to". * /Joe is not good in sports, but when it comes to arithmetic he's the best in the class./ * /The school has very good teachers, but when it comes to buildings, the school is poor./
[come to a dead end] <v. phr.> To reach a point from which one cannot proceed further, either because of a physical obstacle or because of some forbidding circumstance. * /Our car came to a dead end; the only way to get out was to drive back in reverse./ * /The factory expansion project came to a dead end because of a lack of funds./
[come to blows] <v. phr.> To begin to fight. * /The two quarreling boys came to blows after school./ * /The two countries came to blows because one wanted to be independent from the other./
[come to grief] <v. phr.> To have a bad accident or disappointment; meet trouble or ruin; end badly; wreck; fail. * /Bill came to grief learning to drive a car./ * /Nick's hopes for a new house came to grief when the house he was building burned down./ * /The fishing boat came to grief off Cape Cod./
[come to grips with] <v. phr.> 1. To get hold of (another wrestler) in close fighting. * /After circling around for a minute, the two wrestlers came to grips with each other./ 2. To struggle seriously with (an idea or problem). * /Mr. Blake's leaching helps students come to grips with the important ideas in the history lesson./ * /Harry cannot be a leader, because he never quite comes to grips with a problem./ Compare: COME TO TERMS(2).
[come to hand] <v. phr.> To be received or obtained. * /Father's letter was mailed from Florida last week and came to hand today./ * /The new books came to hand today./ * /New information about the boy's disappearance came to hand yesterday./
[come to heel] See: TO HEEL.
[come to life] See: COME ALIVE.
[come to light] <v. phr.> To be discovered; become known; appear. * /John's thefts from the bank where he worked came to light when the bank examiners made an inspection./ * /When the old woman died it came to light that she was actually rich./ * /New facts about ancient Egypt have recently come to light./ Compare: BRING TO LIGHT.
[come to mind] <v. phr.> To occur to someone. * /A new idea for the advertising campaign came to mind as I was reading your book./
[come to nothing] also <formal> [come to naught] <v. phr.> To end in failure; fail; be in vain. * /The dog's attempts to climb the tree after the cat came to nothing./
[come to one's senses] <v. phr.> 1. Become conscious again; wake up. * /The boxer was knocked out and did not come to his senses for several minutes./ * /The doctors gave Tom an anesthetic before his operation; then the doctor took out Tom's appendix before he came to his senses./ Compare: COME TO(1). 2. To think clearly; behave as usual or as you should; act sensibly. * /A boy threw a snowball at me and before I could come to my senses he ran away./ * /Don't act so foolishly. Come to your senses!/ Contrast: OUT OF ONE'S HEAD.
[come to pass] <v. phr.>, <literary> To happen; occur. * /Strange things come to pass in troubled times./ * /It came to pass that the jailer visited him by night./ * /His hopes of success did not come to pass./ Compare: BRING TO PASS, COME ABOUT.
[come to terms] <v. phr.> To reach an agreement. * /Management and the labor union came to terms about a new arrangement and a strike was prevented./
[come to the point] or [get to the point] <v. phr.> To talk about the important thing; reach the important facts of the matter; reach the central question or fact. * /Henry was giving a lot of history and explanation, but his father asked him to come to the point./ * /A good newspaper story must come right to the point and save the details for later./ Contrast: BEAT ABOUT THE BUSH.
[come to think of it] <v. phr.>, <informal> As I think again; indeed; really. * /Come to think of it, he has already been given what he needs./ * /Come to think of it, I should write my daughter today./
[come true] <v.> To really happen; change from a dream or a plan into a fact. * /It took years of planning and saving, but their seagoing vacation came true at last./ * /It was a dream come true when he met the President./ * /His hope of living to 100 did not come true./
[come up] <v.> 1. To become a subject for discussion or decision to talk about or decide about. * /"He was a good salesman, and price never came up until the very last," Mary said./ * /The question of wage increases came up at the board meeting./ * /Mayor Jones comes up for reelection this fall./ 2. To be equal; match in value. - Used with "to". * /The new model car comes up to last year's./ 3. To approach; come close. * /We saw a big black bear coming up on us from the woods./ * /Christmas is coming up soon./ * /The team was out practicing for the big game coming up./ 4. To provide; supply; furnish. - Used with "with". * /For years Jones kept coming up with new and good ideas./ * /The teacher asked a difficult question, but finally Ted came up with a good answer./
[come up in the world] or [rise in the world] <v. phr.> To gain success, wealth, or importance in life; rise to a position of greater wealth or importance. * /He had come up in the world since he peddled his wife's baked goods from a pushcart./ Compare: GET AHEAD. Contrast: COME DOWN IN THE WORLD.
[come up smelling like a rose] <v. phr.> To escape from a difficult situation or misdeed unscathed or without punishment. * /A is predicted that Congressman Brown, in spite of the current investigation into his financial affairs, will come up smelling like a rose at the end./
[come up to] <v. phr.> To equal. * /The meals cooked in most restaurants do not come up to those prepared at home./
[come up with] <v. phr.> 1. To offer. * /We can always depend on John Smith to come up with a good solution for any problem we might have./ 2. To produce on demand. * /I won't be able to buy this car, because I cannot come up with the down payment you require./ 3. To find. * /How on earth did you come up with such a brilliant idea?/
[come upon] See: COME ON(3).
[come what may] <adv. phr.> Even if troubles come; no matter what happens; in spite of opposition or mischance. * /Charles has decided to get a college education, come what may./ * /The editor says we will publish the school paper this week, come what may./
[comfort] See: COLD COMFORT.
[comfortable as an old shoe] <adj. phr.>, <informal> Pleasant and relaxed; not stiff, strict or too polite; easy to talk and work with. * /The stranger was as comfortable as an old shoe, and we soon were talking like old friends./
[coming and going] or [going and coming] <adv. phr.> 1. Both ways; in both directions. * /The truck driver stops at the same cafe coming and going./ * /John was late. He got punished both going and coming; his teacher punished him and his parents punished him./ 2. Caught or helpless; in your power; left with no way out of a difficulty. - Used after "have". * /If Beth stayed in the house, Mother would make her help with the cleaning; if she went outside, Father would make her help wash the car - they had her coming and going./ * /Uncle Mike is a good checker player, and he soon had me beat coming and going./ Compare: BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA.
[coming out] See: COME OUT(1).
[coming out party] <n. phr.> A debutante party in which a young girl is formally introduced to society. * /Coming out parties used to be more popular in the early twentieth century than nowadays, primarily because they cost a lot of money./
[comings and goings] <n. pl.>, <informal> 1. Times of arriving and going away; movements. * /I can't keep up with the children's comings and goings./ 2. Activities; doings; business. * /Mary knows all the comings and goings in the neighborhood./
[command module] <n.>, <Space English> 1. One of the three main sections of the basic Apollo spacecraft. It weighs six tons and is cone shaped. It contains crew compartments and from it the astronauts can operate the lunar module (LM), the docking systems, etc. 2. <Informal transferred sense.> The cockpit, the chief place where a person does his most important work. * /My desk is my command module./
[commission] See: IN COMMISSION or INTO COMMISSION, OUT OF COMMISSION.
[common] See: IN COMMON.
[common as an old shoe] <adj. phr.>, <informal> Not showing off; not vain; modest; friendly to all. * /Although Mr. Jones ran a large business, he was common as an old shoe./ * /The most famous people are sometimes as common as an old shoe./
[common ground] <n.> Shared beliefs, interests, or ways of understanding; ways in which people are alike. * /Bob and Frank don't like each other because they have no common ground./ * /The only common ground between us is that we went to the same school./ Compare: IN COMMON.
[common touch] <n.> The ability to be a friend of the people; friendly manner with everyone. * /Voters like a candidate who has the common touch./
[company] See: KEEP COMPANY, PART COMPANY.
[company man] <n.>, <informal> A worker who always agrees with management rather than labor. - Usually used to express dislike or disapproval. * /Joe was a company man and refused to take a part in the strike./ Compare: YES-MAN.
[compare notes] <v. phr.>, <informal> To exchange thoughts or ideas about something; discuss together. * /Mother and Mrs. Barker like to compare notes about cooking./
[compliment] See: RETURN THE COMPLIMENT.
[conclusion] See: JUMP TO A CONCLUSION.
[condition] See: IN SHAPE or IN CONDITION, IN THE PINK or IN THE PINK OF CONDITION, ON CONDITION THAT, OUT OF SHAPE or OUT OF CONDITION.
[conference] See: PRESS CONFERENCE.
[congregate housing] <n.>, <informal> A form of housing for elderly persons in which dining facilities and services are shared in multiple dwelling units. * /Jerry put Grandma in a place where they have congregate housing./
[conk out] <v. phr.>, <slang>, <informal> To fall asleep suddenly with great fatigue or after having drunk too much. * /We conked out right after the guests had left./
[consent] See: SILENCE GIVES CONSENT.
[consequence] See: IN CONSEQUENCE, IN CONSEQUENCE OF.
[consideration] See: IN CONSIDERATION OF.
[consumer goods] or [consumer items] <n.> Food and manufactured things that people buy for their own use. * /In time of war, the supply of consumer goods is greatly reduced./