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

Since then, nine more people have come forward to share with NBC News that their relatives also had been given to the medical program without consent. —Mike Hixenbaugh, NBC News, 2 Oct. 2024

The Attorney General’s Office is asking anyone with information on the seller to come forward. —Darcie Moran, Detroit Free Press, 30 Sep. 2024

Kate Gosselin's Lawyer Claims She Never 'Intentionally Harmed' Her Children Amid Son Collin's Abuse Allegations Earlier this month, the college student also came forward with allegations of abuse against his mother, which were later denied by Kate's lawyer. —Stephanie Wenger, People.com, 27 Sep. 2024

Huston’s ex-boyfriend, Terence Moss, who came forward to offer his assistance in the investigation, became the police’s first person of interest. —Stephanie McBee, ABC News, 27 Sep. 2024

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