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

Zepeda comes forward and throws volume, which is exactly the input Roach's counterpunching needs to look spectacular and exactly the pressure that has troubled him when the scorecards got close. — Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 22 July 2026

Delphine, who was born in 1968, first came forward in 2005, claiming to have been born from a long affair between Albert and her mother. — Stephanie Petit, PEOPLE, 21 July 2026

The eerie electropop song, released nearly a year after Lively came forward with her claims against Baldoni, contains icy lyrics about a female friend of Swift's who is embroiled in controversy. — Edward Segarra, USA Today, 20 July 2026

On the Bears Ears side, the concept for Bears Ears National Monument really came forward from several tribal nations who were a part of what’s called the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition. — Natalie Krebs, Outdoor Life, 16 July 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