come forward

verb

came forward; come forward; coming forward; comes forward

: to make the effort required to provide information, make a claim, volunteer, etc.

No one has yet come forward to claim the reward.

Essex Police is now appealing for anyone with information or dash cam footage of the crash to come forward and help with their inquiries.

—Alex Gidden

The young woman … had come forward after six months to accuse him of assault.

—Jules De Cinque

also : to become publicly known

While the case was dropped the prosecutor says if substantial evidence came forward this case could go to a trial in the future …

—Don Granese

Examples of come forward in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

As additional women came forward, the number of accusers grew to more than 300, according to subsequent reporting by the Los Angeles Times. — Christina Dugan Ramirez, FOXNews.com, 23 Oct. 2026

When another 15-year-old boy came forward about Moore’s abuse in 2006, court records show that church officials went to local law enforcement. — Matthew Kelly, Kansas City Star, 23 Oct. 2026

All of the accusers came forward after watching the Channel 4 documentary, but none of them know each other, the prosecution has said. — Max Goldbart, Deadline, 21 Oct. 2026

More people have since come forward with their own encounters with both officers. — Shelley Bortz, CBS News, 21 Oct. 2026

Rhymes for come forward

• carryforward
• equatorward
• henceforward
• straightforward
• thenceforward
• shoreward

Legal Definition

come forward

intransitive verb

come for·​ward

: to make a presentation of something to the court

—usually used with with

must come forward with materials to show that there is a genuine issue of fact

—J. H. Friedenthal et al.

coming forward with the evidence