come by

verb

came by; come by; coming by; comes by

transitive verb

: to get possession of : acquire
a good job is hard to come by

intransitive verb

: to make a visit
came by after dinner

Examples of come by in a Sentence

come by after work and I'll give you some clothes for the rummage sale a literary award like that isn't easy to come by
Recent Examples on the Web Hard data are hard to come by, but Chris Papadopoulos, an expert in health technology at the University of Bedfordshire, guesses that fewer than one in 1,000 U.K. care homes uses a humanoid robot on an ongoing basis. Stephanie H. Murray, The Atlantic, 21 Mar. 2024 Writing skill could be acquired; direct experience and deep investment in a coverage area were harder to come by. Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2024 Non-Muslim neighbors have, for the first time, begun coming by for Ramadan, bringing food — including dates, an iftar staple honoring the prophet Muhammad — greeting cards and flowers, and wishing them well. Ethan Baron, The Mercury News, 16 Mar. 2024 That tickets are so hard to come by, and for prices to rise so steeply, is a staggering development. Journal Sentinel, 14 Mar. 2024 Of course, lots of people face barriers to accessing physical or mental health care—costs can be high, even with insurance, and quick appointments can be hard to come by. Cindy Kuzma, SELF, 4 Mar. 2024 Hospitals are closed; security forces are hard to come by. Samantha Schmidt, Washington Post, 9 Mar. 2024 The Eras tour tickets have been notoriously hard to come by. Alex Ledsom, Forbes, 28 Feb. 2024 Curls have a way of adding volume, texture, and definition to one’s hair, but not everyone comes by them naturally — that's where curling irons come into play. Madison Yauger, Peoplemag, 26 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'come by.' 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

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of come by was in the 14th century

Dictionary Entries Near come by

Cite this Entry

“Come by.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/come%20by. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

come by

verb
1
: to make a visit
come by after dinner
2
: acquire
good help is hard to come by

More from Merriam-Webster on come by

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