come by

verb

came by; come by; coming by; comes by

transitive verb

: to get possession of : acquire

a good job is hard to come by

intransitive verb

: to make a visit

came by after dinner

Synonyms

• call
• come over
• drop by
• drop in
• pop (in)
• run (over)
• run in
• step in
• stop (by or in)
• visit

Examples of come by in a Sentence

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

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

Recent Examples on the Web

According to Moody’s, that is expected to come by the end of next month. —Brendan Coffey, Sportico.com, 19 July 2024

The Prince and Princess of Wales' team teased that something was coming by sharing the Natural History Museum's Instagram post about the opening of the new gardens at the center, along with an eyeball emoji. —Janine Henni, Peoplemag, 18 July 2024

Since Democrats haven't won statewide office in over a decade, big donors are hard to come by. —Kayla Dwyer, The Indianapolis Star, 16 July 2024

Industrial, office, and retail space is equally hard to come by, according to data from CoStar Group. —Scott Cohn, CNBC, 11 July 2024

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Kids Definition

come by

verb

1

: to make a visit

come by after dinner

2

: acquire

good help is hard to come by