come forward

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

To Jordan Flowers, the executive director of the Disclosure Foundation, the film ably dramatizes what his organization has been trying to tell the general public ever since those modern whistleblowers started coming forward ten years ago. —Erin Vanderhoof, Vanity Fair, 19 June 2026

Edwards said public updates can encourage witnesses to come forward, reassure victims’ families that investigations remain active, and build confidence that crimes are being pursued even when arrests are not made immediately. —Ben Wheeler, Kansas City Star, 18 June 2026

Baltimore Police released suspect information on Thursday, encouraging the public to come forward with tips on the shooter's whereabouts. —Cbs Baltimore Staff, CBS News, 18 June 2026

But on Monday, Harris announced that a witness had come forward after the release of the video. —Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times, 16 June 2026

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