1
a
: a sharp or witty reply : retort
b
: a cause for complaint
came back; come back; coming back; comes back
1
: to return to life or vitality
2
: to return to memory
it's all coming back to me now
4
a
: to regain a former favorable condition or position
b
: to recover from a deficit in a contest or competition
… it was the first time in NHL history that a team was down by three goals inside the final five minutes and came back to win a game.—
Mike Harrington
Mike HarringtonSynonyms
Examples of comeback in a Sentence
Noun
The species was nearly extinct but is now making a comeback.
Short skirts were out of fashion for many years, but now they're making a comeback.
The team was trailing after the first half, but they made a comeback and won in the second half.
The team mounted a comeback in the second half of the season.
Verb
she's slowly coming back after being in a coma
the American bald eagle was once nearly extinct but has come back strong
Recent Examples on the WebTIME, 7 May 2024
The Dodgers had projected an 80-85 pitch range for Buehler’s comeback start and Roberts pulled him after 77 pitches in four innings.
—Bill Plunkett, Orange County Register, 6 May 2024
One of Wun follows up last June’s A Gift & a Curse, which marked his comeback from his seven-month incarceration in the YSL indictment.
—Andre Gee, Rolling Stone, 3 May 2024
On Saturday, the three-time gold medalist staged a comeback at the American Classic in Katy, Texas, and successfully qualified to compete at the U.S. Championships, putting her on a path to compete at the Olympic Games in Paris this summer.
—Kaetlyn Liddy, NBC News, 27 Apr. 2024
Aledo scored three runs in the seventh inning to take its first lead and held on in the bottom half to complete the comeback.
—Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 11 May 2024
Various outlets reported earlier this year about a Spears comeback album post-conservatorship that featured collaborators Charli XCX and Julia Michaels.
—Jessica Wang, EW.com, 7 May 2024
Boston had to stave off Toronto’s efforts to mount a comeback from down 3-1 in the first-round series.
—Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 5 May 2024
Irving, who finished with a team high 40 points, was at the forefront of the Mavericks’ comeback.
—Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 29 Apr. 2024
David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times, 2 May 2024
Signs of bird flu have also made its way into the retail dairy supply, with as many as one in five samples of milk coming back positive in a nationwide Food and Drug Administration survey.
—Alexander Tin, CBS News, 1 May 2024
By giving readers the gift of hindsight, Min shows how one enigmatic family falls apart and comes back together over several decades.
—Shannon Carlin, TIME, 1 May 2024
It was also announced in February that Sara Ramírez, the star behind the controversial character Che Diaz, would also not be coming back for the new season.
—Carly Thomas, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
The math argument only looks narrowly what does the state put out versus what came back into the state’s coffers.
—Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 20 Apr. 2024
Castro Valley 6, No. 17 Piedmont 4 (nine innings)
Castro Valley came back from a two-run deficit to beat Piedmont in extra innings.
—Nathan Canilao, The Mercury News, 19 Apr. 2024
Males birds start to come back to Wisconsin in March and April, and female birds follow after them.
—Alex Groth, Journal Sentinel, 18 Apr. 2024
Our experts say that patients usually come back for a second procedure about 10 to 15 years after the first.
—Kara Nesvig, Allure, 17 Apr. 2024
Noun
In the last decade, all three of Hanna’s major musical projects have made triumphant comebacks.
—TIME, 7 May 2024
The Dodgers had projected an 80-85 pitch range for Buehler’s comeback start and Roberts pulled him after 77 pitches in four innings.
—Bill Plunkett, Orange County Register, 6 May 2024
One of Wun follows up last June’s A Gift & a Curse, which marked his comeback from his seven-month incarceration in the YSL indictment.
—Andre Gee, Rolling Stone, 3 May 2024
On Saturday, the three-time gold medalist staged a comeback at the American Classic in Katy, Texas, and successfully qualified to compete at the U.S. Championships, putting her on a path to compete at the Olympic Games in Paris this summer.
—Kaetlyn Liddy, NBC News, 27 Apr. 2024
Aledo scored three runs in the seventh inning to take its first lead and held on in the bottom half to complete the comeback.
—Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 11 May 2024
Various outlets reported earlier this year about a Spears comeback album post-conservatorship that featured collaborators Charli XCX and Julia Michaels.
—Jessica Wang, EW.com, 7 May 2024
Boston had to stave off Toronto’s efforts to mount a comeback from down 3-1 in the first-round series.
—Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 5 May 2024
Irving, who finished with a team high 40 points, was at the forefront of the Mavericks’ comeback.
—Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 29 Apr. 2024
Verb
The new regulations, which must be drafted and come back for another council vote, would buy the city time to develop rules requiring that 100% affordable housing projects provide at least some units for families that are defined as very low-income, said Hernandez spokesperson Chelsea Lucktenberg.
—David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times, 2 May 2024
Signs of bird flu have also made its way into the retail dairy supply, with as many as one in five samples of milk coming back positive in a nationwide Food and Drug Administration survey.
—Alexander Tin, CBS News, 1 May 2024
By giving readers the gift of hindsight, Min shows how one enigmatic family falls apart and comes back together over several decades.
—Shannon Carlin, TIME, 1 May 2024
It was also announced in February that Sara Ramírez, the star behind the controversial character Che Diaz, would also not be coming back for the new season.
—Carly Thomas, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
The math argument only looks narrowly what does the state put out versus what came back into the state’s coffers.
—Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 20 Apr. 2024
Castro Valley 6, No. 17 Piedmont 4 (nine innings)
Castro Valley came back from a two-run deficit to beat Piedmont in extra innings.
—Nathan Canilao, The Mercury News, 19 Apr. 2024
Males birds start to come back to Wisconsin in March and April, and female birds follow after them.
—Alex Groth, Journal Sentinel, 18 Apr. 2024
Our experts say that patients usually come back for a second procedure about 10 to 15 years after the first.
—Kara Nesvig, Allure, 17 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'comeback.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Cite this Entry
“Comeback.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/comeback. Accessed 17 May. 2024.
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