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[kuhm] /kʌm/

verb (used without object), came, come, coming.
1.
to approach or move toward a particular person or place:
Come here. Don’t come any closer!
2.
to arrive by movement or in the course of progress:
The train from Boston is coming.
3.
to approach or arrive in time, in succession, etc.:
Christmas comes once a year. I’ll come to your question next.
4.
to move into view; appear.
5.
to extend; reach:
The dress comes to her knees.
6.
to take place; occur; happen:
Success comes to those who strive.
7.
to occur at a certain point, position, etc.:
Tuesday comes after Monday. Her aria comes in the third act.
8.
to be available, produced, offered, etc.:
Toothpaste comes in a tube.
9.
to occur to the mind:
The idea just came to me.
10.
to befall:
They promised no harm would come to us.
11.
to issue; emanate; be derived:
Peaches come from trees. Good results do not come from careless work.
12.
to arrive or appear as a result:
This comes of carelessness.
13.
to enter or be brought into a specified state or condition:
to come into popular use.
14.
to do or manage; fare:
She’s coming along well with her work.
15.
to enter into being or existence; be born:
The baby came at dawn.
16.
to have been a resident or to be a native of (usually followed by from):
She comes from Florida.
17.
to become:
His shoes came untied.
18.
to seem to become:
His fears made the menacing statues come alive. The work will come easy with a little practice.
19.
(used in the imperative to call attention or to express impatience, anger, remonstrance, etc.):
Come, that will do!
20.
to germinate, as grain.
21.
Informal. to have an orgasm.
verb (used with object), came, come, coming.
22.
Chiefly British. to do; perform; accomplish.
23.
Informal. to play the part of:
to come the grande dame.
noun
24.
Slang: Vulgar. .
Verb phrases
25.
come about,

26.
come across,

27.
come again, (used as a request to repeat a statement).
28.
come along,

29.
come around/round,

30.
come at,

31.
come back,

32.
come between, to cause to be estranged or antagonized:
Love of money came between the brothers.
33.
come by, to obtain; acquire:
How did he ever come by so much money?
34.
come down,

35.
come down on/upon,

36.
come down with, to become afflicted with (an illness):
Many people came down with the flu this year.
37.
come forward, to offer one’s services; present oneself; volunteer:
When the president called for volunteers, several members of our group came forward.
38.
come in,

39.
come in for, to receive; get; be subjected to:
This plan will no doubt come in for a great deal of criticism.
40.
come into,

41.
come on,

42.
come on to, Slang. to make sexual advances to.
43.
come out,

44.
come out for, to endorse or support publicly:
The newspaper came out for the reelection of the mayor.
45.
come out with,

46.
come over,

47.
come round,

48.
come through,

49.
come to,

50.
come under,

51.
come up,

52.
come upon. (defs 26a, 41a).
53.
come up to,

54.
come up with, to produce; supply:
Can you come up with the right answer?
Idioms
55.
come and go, to occur briefly or suddenly but never for long; appear and disappear.
56.
come down on the side of, to support or favor:
I want to come down on the side of truth and justice.
57.
come home, Nautical.

58.
come off, Informal.

59.
come off it, Informal. to stop being wrong, foolish, or pretentious; be truthful or honest:
Come off it—we know you’re as poor as the rest of us.
60.
come to pass, to happen; occur.
61.
come what may, no matter what may happen; regardless of any opposition, argument, or consequences:
Come what may, he will not change his mind.
62.
where one is coming from, Slang. where the source of one’s beliefs, attitudes, or feelings lies:
It’s hard to understand where your friend is coming from when he says such crazy things.
/kʌm/
verb (mainly intransitive) comes, coming, came, come
1.
to move towards a specified person or place: come to my desk
2.
to arrive by movement or by making progress
3.
to become perceptible: light came into the sky
4.
to occur in the course of time: Christmas comes but once a year
5.
to exist or occur at a specific point in a series: your turn comes next
6.
to happen as a result: no good will come of this
7.
to originate or be derived: good may come of evil
8.
to occur to the mind: the truth suddenly came to me
9.
to extend or reach: she comes up to my shoulder
10.
to be produced or offered: that dress comes in red only
11.
to arrive at or be brought into a particular state or condition: you will soon come to grief, the new timetable comes into effect on Monday
12.
(foll by from) to be or have been a resident or native (of): I come from London
13.
to become: your wishes will come true
14.
(transitive; takes an infinitive) to be given awareness: I came to realize its enormous value
15.
(of grain) to germinate
16.
(slang) to have an orgasm
17.
(transitive) (Brit, informal) to play the part of: don’t come the fine gentleman with me
18.
(transitive) (Brit, informal) to cause or produce: don’t come that nonsense again
19.
(subjunctive use) when (a specified time or event has arrived or begun): she’ll be sixteen come Sunday, come the revolution, you’ll be the first to go
20.
as…as they come, the most characteristic example of a class or type
21.
(informal) come again?, what did you say?
22.
(imperative or dependent imperative) come and, to move towards a particular person or thing or accompany a person with some specified purpose: come and see what I’ve found
23.
(informal) come clean, to make a revelation or confession
24.
(informal) come good, to recover and perform well after a bad start or setback
25.
(slang) come it

26.
come to light, to be revealed
27.
(Austral & NZ, informal) come to light with, to find or produce
28.
(archaic) come to pass, to take place
29.
(informal) how come?, what is the reason that?
interjection
30.
an exclamation expressing annoyance, irritation, etc: come now!, come come!
noun (taboo, slang)
31.
semen
v.

Old English cuman “come, approach, land; come to oneself, recover; arrive; assemble” (class IV strong verb; past tense cuom, com, past participle cumen), from Proto-Germanic *kwem- (cf. Old Saxon cuman, Old Frisian kuma, Middle Dutch comen, Dutch komen, Old High German queman, German kommen, Old Norse koma, Gothic qiman), from PIE root *gwa-, *gwem- “to go, come” (cf. Sanskrit gamati “he goes,” Avestan jamaiti “goes,” Tocharian kakmu “come,” Lithuanian gemu “to be born,” Greek bainein “to go, walk, step,” Latin venire “to come”).

The substitution of Middle English -o- for Old English -u- before -m-, -n-, or -r- was a scribal habit before minims to avoid misreading the letters in the old style handwriting, which jammed letters. The practice similarly transformed some, monk, tongue, worm. Modern past tense form came is Middle English, probably from Old Norse kvam, replacing Old English cuom.

Remarkably productive with prepositions (NTC’s “Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs” lists 198 combinations); consider the varied senses in come to “regain consciousness,” come over “possess” (as an emotion), come at “attack,” come on (interj.) “be serious,” and come off “occur.” For sexual senses, see cum.

noun

noun

(also cum) Semen, or any fluid secreted at orgasm (1920s+)

verb

To have an orgasm; ejaculate semen (1650+)

Related Terms

how come, what goes around comes around