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

Garbrandt, once an undefeated bantamweight king, now holds a 15-8 record, with most losses coming by finish. — Brian Mazique, Forbes.com, 12 July 2026

Just a couple of hours later, the user commented that someone came by the dumpster and retrieved the documents. — Shannon Tyler, Idaho Statesman, 9 July 2026

Half of those 3,200 layoffs are effective today, new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma wrote, while the other half will come by the end of Microsoft’s 2027 fiscal year (which runs through June 30, 2027). — Kyle Orland, ArsTechnica, 6 July 2026

Looking at the people here and everybody that’s coming by, just the following. — Victoria Edel, PEOPLE, 6 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Rhymes for come by

• abscissae
• adonai
• alibi
• alkali
• alumni
• amoebae
• amplify
• annuli
• beautify
• brachii
• butterfly
• calculi

Kids Definition

come by

verb

1

: to make a visit

come by after dinner

2

: acquire

good help is hard to come by