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 of come by

• visit
• run in
• drop by
• drop in

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

Most of the stoppages came by way of tap out. —Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 10 May 2026

Hard data on the cask investment sector is hard to come by, but data from Whiskystats indicates that the broader Scotch market has lost almost a third of its value over a torrid three years. —Hugh Leask, CNBC, 9 May 2026

Teams need shot-blocking, willing-to-take-a-beating D-men like Peeke and right-shot D are hard to come by, so this UFA could be a candidate for an extension. —Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 9 May 2026

Suddenly, big audiences are harder to come by, and advertisers instead must work harder to persuade individual viewers during personal binge sessions. —Brian Steinberg, Variety, 9 May 2026

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