come forward

verb

came forward; come forward; coming forward; comes forward

: to make the effort required to provide information, make a claim, volunteer, etc.

No one has yet come forward to claim the reward.

Essex Police is now appealing for anyone with information or dash cam footage of the crash to come forward and help with their inquiries.

—Alex Gidden

The young woman … had come forward after six months to accuse him of assault.

—Jules De Cinque

also : to become publicly known

While the case was dropped the prosecutor says if substantial evidence came forward this case could go to a trial in the future …

—Don Granese

Examples of come forward in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In some cases, workers were not removed from patient care until additional patients came forward alleging similar abuse. —Emily Hoerner, Chicago Tribune, 12 June 2026

Wortzik's motives are gradually revealed after his lover comes forward, turning a local incident into a media frenzy. —Eric Farwell, Entertainment Weekly, 12 June 2026

Police are still asking the public to come forward with any information about a second suspect. —Tammy Mutasa, CBS News, 12 June 2026

The boy’s family and county leaders are renewing their plea for witnesses to come forward, saying justice for a child lost to senseless street violence is long overdue. —Seamus Bozeman follow, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2026

Rhymes for come forward

• carryforward
• equatorward
• henceforward
• straightforward
• thenceforward
• shoreward

Legal Definition

come forward

intransitive verb

come for·​ward

: to make a presentation of something to the court

—usually used with with

must come forward with materials to show that there is a genuine issue of fact

—J. H. Friedenthal et al.

coming forward with the evidence