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

Despite flashes of promise from some of the club’s young talent, victories have been difficult to come by, leaving fans searching for reasons to remain optimistic about the future and questioning the competence of rookie manager Tony Vitello. —Peter Chawaga, Forbes.com, 6 June 2026

Jalen Brunson leads the Knicks with 11 points, but those points have been hard to come by. —Andrew Greif, NBC news, 4 June 2026

That included their only two losses in the postseason so far, which came by a total of two points. —Zach Harper, New York Times, 3 June 2026

But Garrett — who set an NFL single-season record last year with 23 sacks — will make victories less difficult to come by. —Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 2 June 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