Search

to come, change, or grow to be (as specified):
he became tired.
to come into being.
to be attractive on; befit in appearance; look well on:
that gown becomes you.
to be suitable or necessary to the dignity, situation, or responsibility of:
conduct that becomes an officer.
become of, to happen to; be the fate of:
what will become of him?
contemporary examples

kalaj changes him, but when he meets a girl named allison he becomes self-conscious again.
this week’s hot reads: april 8, 2013 g. clay whittaker april 8, 2013

the good life awaits the young man who becomes a college football star.
football great bob suffridge wanders through the end zone of life paul hemphill september 5, 2014

then, someone famous is accused of s-xual -ssault and it becomes headline news.
how i stopped my rapist natasha alexenko november 23, 2014

i think if you keep trying to do things the same way it becomes diminishing returns.
belle & sebastian aren’t so shy anymore james joiner january 6, 2015

if a friend living within half a mile of you becomes happy, there’s a 42 percent chance that you’ll become happy too.
who’s the happiest? anneli rufus august 15, 2010

historical examples

it ceases to be everything as soon as something else becomes very important.
picture and text henry james

clerk or no, you have acted this day as becomes a true knight.
the white company arthur conan doyle

the upshot of his rough life is, that he becomes a true christian.
harper’s new monthly magazine, no. vi, november 1850, vol. i various

otherwise the chance of over-shooting–always great–becomes prohibitive.
the leopard woman stewart edward white

in an evil hour she falls, and becomes a lost, degraded creature.
the mysteries of paris, volume 3 of 6 eugne sue

verb (mainly intransitive) -comes, -coming, -came, -come
(copula) to come to be; develop or grow into: he became a monster
(foll by of; usually used in a question) to fall to or be the lot (of); happen (to): what became of him?
(transitive) (of clothes, etc) to enhance the appearance of (someone); suit: that dress becomes you
(transitive) to be appropriate; befit: it ill becomes you to complain
v.

old english bec-man “happen, come about,” also “meet with, arrive,” from proto-germanic -bikweman “become” (cf. dutch bekomen, old high german biqueman “obtain,” german bekommen, gothic biquiman). a compound of be- and come; it drove out old english weorðan. meaning “to look well” is early 14c., from earlier sense of “to agree with, be fitting” (early 13c.).
in addition to the idiom beginning with become , also see idioms beginning with get