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

Phrases

come up empty

: to fail to achieve a desired result

come up with

: to produce especially in dealing with a problem or challenge

came up with a solution

Synonyms

• 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

Now entering his eighth year in the league, Dončić’s transformation comes at a time when he’s viewed more as a veteran than a wunderkind on a team that came up short of Lakers fans’ ever-lofty high expectations after their first-round playoff loss in May. —Anna Lazarus Caplan, People.com, 1 Aug. 2025

Weiss came up with the phrase as many international aid groups saw their budgets cut dramatically by the Trump administration with accusations of being wasteful yet did not speak up to defend the programs that came to a halt. —Fatma Tanis, NPR, 1 Aug. 2025

Using the description from the girls, investigators came up with a composite sketch, Rhodes said. —Arkansas Online, 31 July 2025

At the Gary apartments, as the marijuana dealer approached Johnson’s car, Triplett came up behind him and fired four shots, charges state. —Meredith Colias-Pete, Chicago Tribune, 31 July 2025

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