Merriam-Webster Logo
SINCE 1828
Menu
×

An Encyclopædia Britannica Company

come by

verb

Definition of come by

  1. transitive verb

  2. :  to get possession of :  acquire a good job is hard to come by

  3. intransitive verb

  4. :  to make a visit came by after dinner

See come by defined for kids

Explore Merriam-Webster

istock-refers-to-this-as-a-tumble-of-strawberries-which-sounded-pretty-nice-to-us
June 2017 Words of the Day Quiz
supreme-court-at-dusk
Trending: SCOTUS: 'Bona Fide' relationships
image599301899
Pretty in 'Pink'
payday
How Often Is 'Biweekly'?

Examples of come by in a Sentence

  1. come by after work and I'll give you some clothes for the rummage sale

  2. a literary award like that isn't easy to come by

First Known Use of come by

14th century

come by Synonyms

Synonyms
call, come over, drop by, drop in, pop (in), run (over), run in, step in, stop (by or in), visit
Antonyms
forfeit, lose
Related Words
barge (in); look up, see; bop (into), happen (by); frequent, hang (at), haunt, resort (to)
Near Antonyms
accord, give, grant, pay; give up, hand over, part (with), relinquish, surrender, yield

Learn More about come by

  1. See words that rhyme with come by Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for come by Britannica English: Translation of come by for Arabic speakers

Seen and Heard

What made you want to look up come by? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).

show hide

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

WORD OF THE DAY

culminate

play

to reach the highest or a decisive point

Get Word of the Day daily email!

TRENDING NOW

  1. bona fide Made in good faith

  2. surrogate mother From TMZ to the dictionary.

  3. zealot A fanatical partisan

  4. stonewall to be uncooperative, obstructive, or evasive

  5. scurrilous Containing obscenities, abuse, or slander

SEE ALL

BROWSE DICTIONARY

come by

WORD GAMES

Take a 3-minute break and test your skills!

  • istock-refers-to-this-as-a-tumble-of-strawberries-which-sounded-pretty-nice-to-us
  • Which is a synonym of garner?
Name That Thing

Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!

TAKE THE QUIZ
Word Winder's CrossWinder

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Words at Play

alt-5953d7f904965
'Patriot' Hasn't Always Been Positive

The word has roots in a religious rivalry

alt-5949565fc7d94
'Negging' Moves Beyond The Bar

Not just for pick-up artists anymore

alt-5947fc40f1b5c
In Tech, What Does 'K' Mean?

A buzzword with a long history.

alt-5951697e1a410
When To Use 'Specious' vs. 'Spurious'

These similar words are not interchangeable

Ask the Editors

payday
How Often Is 'Biweekly'?

Don't get us started on 'bimonthly'

decimate-video
Is it wrong to use 'decimate' to mean 'destroy'?

Language changes

video-irregardless-grammar-peeve-blend-of-the-synonyms-irrespective-and-regardless
Irregardless

It is in fact a real word (but that doesn't mean you should use it).

video-moose-goose-weird-plurals
Weird Plurals

One goose, two geese. One moose, two... moose. What's up with that?

Word Games

istock-refers-to-this-as-a-tumble-of-strawberries-which-sounded-pretty-nice-to-us
June 2017 Words of the Day Quiz

Summer's first WOTD quiz.

Take the quiz
alt-5941ad7527c3c
Yearbook Superlatives Quiz

Is that your picture under "Largest Vocabulary"?

Take the quiz
Name That Thing
Name That Thing

Test your visual vocabulary with our 10-question challenge!

Take the quiz
Word Winder's CrossWinder
Word Winder's CrossWinder

A game of winding words.

Play the game
Examples: come by in a Sentence