come forward

phrasal 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

Lawmaker William Wragg, 36, came forward to apologize for having given out people’s personal contacts. —Karla Adam, Washington Post, 5 Apr. 2024

But one former TikTok employee turned whistleblower, who claims to have driven key news reporting and congressional concerns about the app, has now come forward. —Louise Matsakis, WIRED, 4 Apr. 2024

Geiger asked anyone who has spotted the car — even if in the past — to come forward. —Grethel Aguila, Miami Herald, 3 Apr. 2024

And in the wake of Ventura's lawsuit, other women and a man have come forward with allegations of their own, and legal experts say more accusers could emerge in the near future. —Michael Ruiz, Fox News, 3 Apr. 2024

The fixation on Mäkelä is bizarre because so many skilled conductors are coming forward—and not just Nordic guys with prominent cheekbones. —Alex Ross, The New Yorker, 2 Apr. 2024

The testimony comes on the fourth day of a preliminary hearing that began in January, and reflects the difficulty authorities are having getting people to come forward in a case that prosecutors have said stemmed from a shootout among rival gangs. —Sam Stanton, Sacramento Bee, 2 Apr. 2024

Other councilors came forward to support the school like councilor Carlos Perkins, who represents the area where the school is set to be located, posted on Facebook last week his support for the school to open in the district. —Caroline Beck, The Indianapolis Star, 2 Apr. 2024

By coming forward with courage to share these stories on camera, a permanent record will be preserved for the families for history for education, and for every future generation. —Alli Rosenbloom, CNN, 25 Mar. 2024

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