come forward

phrasal 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

Marilyn Wayne, a woman who came forward in 2011, was on a boat with her boyfriend and son 50 feet away from the Splendour. —Alex Gurley, PEOPLE, 29 Nov. 2025

According to the Financial Times in an article in 2024, James Cameron came forward to back the studio, writing to the Buckinghamshire Council in support of the plans. —Alex Ritman, Variety, 26 Nov. 2025

And that’s just the figure that victims have reported, though Stephan said others are too embarrassed to come forward and report their losses, as Heise and his wife initially were. —Alex Riggins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Nov. 2025

No group has come forward to claim responsibility for the attack, The Associated Press reported. —Stephen Sorace, FOXNews.com, 25 Nov. 2025

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