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

People came up to her on the curb, offering support and condolences. —Jenna Ebbers, Kansas City Star, 1 Apr. 2026

In competition, Disney+’s Alice and Steve will come up against the likes of Media Res show Summer of 1985. —Max Goldbart, Deadline, 31 Mar. 2026

Drake also references her background on his daily podcast, Tom Drake’sDaily Cruise & Travelers Podcast, where her perspective often comes up in conversation. —Malana Vantyler, USA Today, 31 Mar. 2026

The team run monthly chef residencies, so there’s always someone new coming up with a creative new menu. —Cnt Editors, Condé Nast Traveler, 31 Mar. 2026

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