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

see also come up empty, come up with

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

The Chiefs came up short at Arrowhead Stadium in a critical matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers. —Chantz Martin, FOXNews.com, 17 Dec. 2025

Clock is ticking Public pressure is mounting as the Royals come up against another potential deadline in their years-long effort to build a new stadium. —Chris Higgins, Kansas City Star, 17 Dec. 2025

The Heat would push for an immediate answer from the league on this issue if Rozier’s name came up in trade discussions with another team. —Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 17 Dec. 2025

The question of enforcement came up in January 2025, when Louisville was pummeled by multiple snowstorms that dumped several inches of snow. —Killian Baarlaer, Louisville Courier Journal, 17 Dec. 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