come by

verb

came by; come by; coming by; comes by

transitive verb

: to get possession of : acquire

a good job is hard to come by

intransitive verb

: to make a visit

came by after dinner

Synonyms

• call
• come over
• drop by
• drop in
• pop (in)
• run (over)
• run in
• step in
• stop (by or in)
• visit

Examples of come by in a Sentence

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

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

Recent Examples on the Web

And since the vast majority of VA personnel are involved with providing health care, those services are likely to be harder to come by. —William Hartung, Forbes.com, 26 Apr. 2025

Elite running backs are hard to come by, and the consensus seems to be that Jeanty has all the tools to be elite. —Sean Hammond, Chicago Tribune, 24 Apr. 2025

Roman friends report that with the arrival of spring weather the city's streets are already impassable in many popular areas, just as hotel and apartment rental options also are difficult to come by. —Marco Della Cava, USA Today, 22 Apr. 2025

Buxton’s highlight-reel play came on a day where the Twins (8-15) took advantage of some poor defense by the White Sox (5-18) for their first two runs, taking what they were given on a night where hits were hard to come by. —Betsy Helfand, Twin Cities, 22 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Rhymes for come by

• abscissae
• alibi
• alkali
• alumni
• amoebae
• amplify
• annuli
• beautify
• brachii
• butterfly
• calculi
• certify

Kids Definition

come by

verb

1

: to make a visit

come by after dinner

2

: acquire

good help is hard to come by