come up

verb

came up; come up; coming up; comes up

intransitive verb

1

: rise sense 6

2

: to come near : make an approach

came up and introduced himself

3

: to rise in rank or status

an officer who came up from the ranks

4

a

: to come to attention or consideration

the question never came up

b

: to occur in the course of time

any problem that may come up

5

: to turn out to be

the coin came up tails

6

chiefly dialectal : grow up

see also:

come up empty come up with

Synonyms of come up

• come
• draw on
• close
• approach
• close in

Examples of come up in a Sentence

the girl came up to the counter and asked if she could have her order prepared to go

let me know if anything else comes up during the project

Recent Examples on the Web

The timing of the news is topical with the World Cup final coming up on Sunday. — Max Goldbart, Deadline, 16 July 2026

The 79th edition of the Locarno Film Festival is coming up fast, and organizers have now unveiled the full lineup of this year’s juries that decide the winners of the Pardo d’Oro, or Golden Leopard, and the Swiss festival’s other awards. — Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 15 July 2026

While its quarterly revenue came up a bit short versus Wall Street expectations, sales were still more than $4 billion. — Zev Fima, CNBC, 15 July 2026

For families, especially those with children, that means coming up with a plan right now. — Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 15 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for come up

• buttercup
• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup

Kids Definition

come up

verb

1

: rise entry 1 sense 4

the sun comes up in an hour

2

: to come near or approach

came up and introduced himself

3

: to come to attention : introduce sense 4

the question came up again