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

Wilson came up with an accountability chart. —Sean Gregory, Time, 10 Dec. 2025

Butler became angry, came up behind her, put his arm around her neck, and strangled to unconsciousness. —Deborah Kim, ABC News, 10 Dec. 2025

Conflict resolution facilitator Priya Parker shares her favorites and explains how to come up with your own. —Malaka Gharib, NPR, 10 Dec. 2025

Most Florida fans remember UConn pushing the Gators in the Round of 32 last year, only barely coming up short, 77-75. —Noah White, Miami Herald, 10 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