come by
verb
came by; come by; coming by; comes by
: to get possession of : acquire
A good job is hard to come by.
: to make a visit
came by after dinner
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
For Gen Z, the 2000s represent a pre-digital innocence that is hard to come by today.
—
Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Dec. 2025
Minutes have been hard to come by for the veteran big man, who hardly played last season and was a DNP in 10 of the Celtics’ previous 11 games before Sunday.
—Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 4 Dec. 2025
Cashmere Short Cardigan A 100 percent cashmere sweater under $200 is hard to come by, which makes this one a true gem.
—Alexandra Domrongchai, Travel + Leisure, 3 Dec. 2025
The past four victories came by a total of 10 points.
—Joe Nguyen, Denver Post, 2 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for come by
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Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
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Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Dec. 2025
Minutes have been hard to come by for the veteran big man, who hardly played last season and was a DNP in 10 of the Celtics’ previous 11 games before Sunday.
—Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 4 Dec. 2025
Cashmere Short Cardigan A 100 percent cashmere sweater under $200 is hard to come by, which makes this one a true gem.
—Alexandra Domrongchai, Travel + Leisure, 3 Dec. 2025
The past four victories came by a total of 10 points.
—Joe Nguyen, Denver Post, 2 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for come by
Cite this Entry
“Come by.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/come%20by. Accessed 11 Dec. 2025.
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