comeback

1 of 2

noun

come·​back ˈkəm-ˌbak How to pronounce comeback (audio)
1
a
: a sharp or witty reply : retort
b
: a cause for complaint
2
: a return to a former position or condition (as of success or prosperity) : recovery, revival
… staging his ultimate comeback from self-imposed exile in Belgium.Howard Mandel
These days, the cocktail—the true cocktail—is said to be making a comeback.Frank H. Prial

come back

2 of 2

verb

came back; come back; coming back; comes back

intransitive verb

1
: to return to life or vitality
2
: to return to memory
it's all coming back to me now
3
: reply, retort
when questioned, he came back with a vehement denial
4
a
: to regain a former favorable condition or position
b
: to recover from a deficit in a contest or competition
… it was the first time in NHL history that a team was down by three goals inside the final five minutes and came back to win a game.Mike Harrington

Examples of comeback in a Sentence

Noun The species was nearly extinct but is now making a comeback. Short skirts were out of fashion for many years, but now they're making a comeback. The team was trailing after the first half, but they made a comeback and won in the second half. The team mounted a comeback in the second half of the season. Verb she's slowly coming back after being in a coma the American bald eagle was once nearly extinct but has come back strong
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
In the last decade, all three of Hanna’s major musical projects have made triumphant comebacks. TIME, 7 May 2024 The Dodgers had projected an 80-85 pitch range for Buehler’s comeback start and Roberts pulled him after 77 pitches in four innings. Bill Plunkett, Orange County Register, 6 May 2024 One of Wun follows up last June’s A Gift & a Curse, which marked his comeback from his seven-month incarceration in the YSL indictment. Andre Gee, Rolling Stone, 3 May 2024 On Saturday, the three-time gold medalist staged a comeback at the American Classic in Katy, Texas, and successfully qualified to compete at the U.S. Championships, putting her on a path to compete at the Olympic Games in Paris this summer. Kaetlyn Liddy, NBC News, 27 Apr. 2024 Aledo scored three runs in the seventh inning to take its first lead and held on in the bottom half to complete the comeback. Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 11 May 2024 Various outlets reported earlier this year about a Spears comeback album post-conservatorship that featured collaborators Charli XCX and Julia Michaels. Jessica Wang, EW.com, 7 May 2024 Boston had to stave off Toronto’s efforts to mount a comeback from down 3-1 in the first-round series. Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 5 May 2024 Irving, who finished with a team high 40 points, was at the forefront of the Mavericks’ comeback. Charles Baggarly, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 29 Apr. 2024
Verb
Doctors ran a battery of tests, and one for Lyme came back positive, confirming Gray's initial hunch from decades earlier. TIME, 16 May 2024 Fans will watch live games on YouTube on Sunday, then come back and watch clips through its video library or commentary from its creators, Oestlien said. Wendy Lee, Los Angeles Times, 16 May 2024 Other day trader darlings, such as AMC and Blackberry, also came back to life this week riding a resurgence in meme stocks that was encouraged by members of Reddit’s WallStreetBets forum. Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 15 May 2024 Money coming back into the system is really healthy and gives me optimism. Mia Galuppo, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 May 2024 Every time someone comes back, the Giants seem to lose two more. Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 13 May 2024 Superhero films actually kept people in the cinemas during that transition and now people are coming back. Zack Sharf, Variety, 13 May 2024 The new regulations, which must be drafted and come back for another council vote, would buy the city time to develop rules requiring that 100% affordable housing projects provide at least some units for families that are defined as very low-income, said Hernandez spokesperson Chelsea Lucktenberg. David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times, 2 May 2024 Signs of bird flu have also made its way into the retail dairy supply, with as many as one in five samples of milk coming back positive in a nationwide Food and Drug Administration survey. Alexander Tin, CBS News, 1 May 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'comeback.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1889, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1860, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Time Traveler
The first known use of comeback was in 1860

Dictionary Entries Near comeback

come away from

comeback

come back

Cite this Entry

“Comeback.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/comeback. Accessed 19 May. 2024.

Kids Definition

comeback

noun
come·​back ˈkəm-ˌbak How to pronounce comeback (audio)
1
2
: a return to a former position or condition (as of health, power, popularity, or prosperity) : recovery

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