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

My hope is that Reunion encourages commissioners and production companies to create space for other deaf people to come forward and tell their stories. —Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 5 Sep. 2025

An Oakland County lottery club, the Wolverine FLL Club, made up of four members, came forward to claim the prize. —Jennifer Sangalang, Treasure Coast Newspapers, 4 Sep. 2025

Given the degree of difficulty, authorities have asked Burning Man attendees to come forward with any information regarding the death. —Daniel Kreps, Rolling Stone, 4 Sep. 2025

Though the winner had not yet come forward, the store's owner said that hasn't stopped customers from hoping there was another fortune to be found at Patriot's Corner. —Phaedra Trethan, USA Today, 3 Sep. 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