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

His sister’s story is often told as one of bravery – of coming forward, of telling her story repeatedly even when no one believed her. —Laura Trujillo, USA Today, 23 Apr. 2026

This is why a lot of individuals don't come forward. —Mike Hellgren, CBS News, 23 Apr. 2026

Martin said that the coverage, along with advertising by plaintiffs’ lawyers about the class action, both precipitated the large number of patients coming forward. —Colleen Cronin, Boston Herald, 23 Apr. 2026

Chanlder, of course, was not the only boy to come forward with allegations against Jackson. —Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 23 Apr. 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