come up

verb

came up; come up; coming up; comes up

intransitive verb

1

: rise sense 6

2

: to come near : make an approach

came up and introduced himself

3

: to rise in rank or status

an officer who came up from the ranks

4

a

: to come to attention or consideration

the question never came up

b

: to occur in the course of time

any problem that may come up

5

: to turn out to be

the coin came up tails

6

chiefly dialectal : grow up

Phrases

come up empty

: to fail to achieve a desired result

come up with

: to produce especially in dealing with a problem or challenge

came up with a solution

Synonyms of come up

• come
• draw on
• close
• approach
• close in

Examples of come up in a Sentence

the girl came up to the counter and asked if she could have her order prepared to go

let me know if anything else comes up during the project

Recent Examples on the Web

With the cost of living still coming up as a major concern for people, Newsweek has rounded up what gas prices are at the moment and compared them to this time last year. —Jordan King, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Nov. 2025

Senate Republicans fell into line behind President Ty Masterson, but House Speaker Dan Hawkins came up several signatures short when 10 GOP representatives refused to sign onto the special session petition. —Matthew Kelly, Kansas City Star, 26 Nov. 2025

Who was the one who came up with the idea? —Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 26 Nov. 2025

But actually, whenever the members get together, kongguksu comes up way more than matcha! —Billboard Korea, Billboard, 26 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for come up

• buttercup
• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup

Kids Definition

come up

verb

1

: rise entry 1 sense 4

the sun comes up in an hour

2

: to come near or approach

came up and introduced himself

3

: to come to attention : introduce sense 4

the question came up again