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, additional women have come forward with accusations against the comedian. —Lauryn Overhultz, FOXNews.com, 7 Nov. 2025

It was not known if the winner has come forward yet. —Harry Harris, Mercury News, 7 Nov. 2025

In the years following, dozens more women came forward with their own allegations against Cosby. —Jack Dunn, Variety, 6 Nov. 2025

The civil case isn’t likely to start in earnest until early next year, but news of Corcoran’s filing has already inspired other sources to come forward with their own complaints about Leone and Falcone’s business practices. —Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 6 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