come up

verb

came up; come up; coming up; comes up

intransitive verb

1

: rise sense 6

2

: to come near : make an approach

came up and introduced himself

3

: to rise in rank or status

an officer who came up from the ranks

4

a

: to come to attention or consideration

the question never came up

b

: to occur in the course of time

any problem that may come up

5

: to turn out to be

the coin came up tails

6

chiefly dialectal : grow up

Phrases

come up empty

: to fail to achieve a desired result

come up with

: to produce especially in dealing with a problem or challenge

came up with a solution

Synonyms

• approach
• belly up
• close
• close in
• draw on
• near
• nigh

Examples of come up in a Sentence

the girl came up to the counter and asked if she could have her order prepared to go

let me know if anything else comes up during the project

Recent Examples on the Web

The Panthers came up empty on their two power-play opportunities but did fire off four shots on goal and get five scoring chances. —Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 11 May 2024

Having experienced both the good and the bad that comes with growing up in this business, do either of you feel a particular responsibility to help pave the way for the next generation of women who are coming up in the business? —Max Gao, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 May 2024

With just less than 10 minutes left in the fourth, the Mavericks got a scare when Doncic came up hobbling after colliding with Oklahoma City’s Cason Wallace. —Field Level Media, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 10 May 2024

That bilateral agreement remains in force, but the United States deferred the outcome of its review when the four-year mark came up in January. —Jim Tankersley, New York Times, 10 May 2024

Almost eight decades ago, a group of like-minded Los Angeles musicians came up with the idea for an enclave of modernist homes known as the Mutual Housing Association development. —Wendy Bowman, Robb Report, 10 May 2024

After forcing Houston Dash goalkeeper Jane Campbell to make an NWSL-record 12 saves Sunday, the Current made Seattle’s Laurel Ivory come up with five Wednesday night. —Daniel Sperry, Kansas City Star, 9 May 2024

The festival has been working with local authorities to come up with a standard operating procedure to deal with a similar incident in the future. —Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 8 May 2024

More big stories Why Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2003 tabloid deal came up at Trump’s hush-money trial. —Kevinisha Walker, Los Angeles Times, 27 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

come up

verb

1

: rise entry 1 sense 4

the sun comes up in an hour

2

: to come near or approach

came up and introduced himself

3

: to come to attention : introduce sense 4

the question came up again