Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
×

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

come by

verb

Definition of come by

  1. transitive verb

  2. :  to get possession of :  acquire a good job is hard to come by

  3. intransitive verb

  4. :  to make a visit came by after dinner

See come by defined for kids

Explore M-W

alt-5951697e1a410
When To Use 'Specious' vs. 'Spurious'
decimate-video
Is it wrong to use 'decimate' to mean 'destroy'?
istock-refers-to-this-as-a-tumble-of-strawberries-which-sounded-pretty-nice-to-us
June 2017 Words of the Day Quiz
supreme-court-at-dusk
Trending: SCOTUS: 'Bona Fide' relationships

Examples of come by in a Sentence

  1. come by after work and I'll give you some clothes for the rummage sale

  2. a literary award like that isn't easy to come by

First Known Use of come by

14th century

come by Synonyms

Synonyms
call, come over, drop by, drop in, pop (in), run (over), run in, step in, stop (by or in), visit
Antonyms
forfeit, lose
Related Words
barge (in); look up, see; bop (into), happen (by); frequent, hang (at), haunt, resort (to)
Near Antonyms
accord, give, grant, pay; give up, hand over, part (with), relinquish, surrender, yield

Learn More about come by

  1. See words that rhyme with come by Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for come by Britannica English: Translation of come by for Arabic speakers

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up come by? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

WORD OF THE DAY

scapegrace

play

an incorrigible rascal

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. bona fide Made in good faith

  2. surrogate mother From TMZ to the dictionary.

  3. zealot A fanatical partisan

  4. stonewall to be uncooperative, obstructive, or evasive

  5. scurrilous Containing obscenities, abuse, or slander

SEE ALL

BROWSE DICTIONARY

come by

WORD GAMES

Take a 3-minute break and test your skills!

  • istock-refers-to-this-as-a-tumble-of-strawberries-which-sounded-pretty-nice-to-us
  • Which is a synonym of garner?
Name That Thing

Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!

TAKE THE QUIZ
Citation

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

alt-5951697e1a410
When To Use 'Specious' vs. 'Spurious'

These similar words are not interchangeable

alt-594bf2ec5f26e
Quick: Read This!

'Quick' once had a very different meaning

alt-594d2b6325245
'Pride': The Word That Went From Vice to Strength

Do you take pride in Pride?

image599301899
Pink: The Color that Will Change Your Life

From Fuchsia to Baker-Miller Pink

Ask the Editors

decimate-video
Is it wrong to use 'decimate' to mean 'destroy'?

Language changes

serial-comma
The Serial Comma

Why don't they call it the Merriam-Webster comma?

video-irregardless-grammar-peeve-blend-of-the-synonyms-irrespective-and-regardless
Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

video-moose-goose-weird-plurals
Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

istock-refers-to-this-as-a-tumble-of-strawberries-which-sounded-pretty-nice-to-us
June 2017 Words of the Day Quiz

Summer's first WOTD quiz.

Take the quiz
alt-5941ad7527c3c
Yearbook Superlatives Quiz

Is that your picture under "Largest Vocabulary"?

Take the quiz
Name That Thing
Name That Thing

Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!

Take the quiz
Citation
Citation

Do you know the person or title these quotes describe?

Play the game
Examples: come by in a Sentence