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Come upon   /kəm əpˈɑn/   Listen
verb
Come  v. i.  (past came; past part. come; pres. part. coming)  
1.
To move hitherward; to draw near; to approach the speaker, or some place or person indicated; opposed to go. "Look, who comes yonder?" "I did not come to curse thee."
2.
To complete a movement toward a place; to arrive. "When we came to Rome." "Lately come from Italy."
3.
To approach or arrive, as if by a journey or from a distance. "Thy kingdom come." "The hour is coming, and now is." "So quick bright things come to confusion."
4.
To approach or arrive, as the result of a cause, or of the act of another. "From whence come wars?" "Both riches and honor come of thee!"
5.
To arrive in sight; to be manifest; to appear. "Then butter does refuse to come."
6.
To get to be, as the result of change or progress; with a predicate; as, to come untied. "How come you thus estranged?" "How come her eyes so bright?" Note: Am come, is come, etc., are frequently used instead of have come, has come, etc., esp. in poetry. The verb to be gives a clearer adjectival significance to the participle as expressing a state or condition of the subject, while the auxiliary have expresses simply the completion of the action signified by the verb. "Think not that I am come to destroy." "We are come off like Romans." "The melancholy days are come, the saddest of the year." Note: Come may properly be used (instead of go) in speaking of a movement hence, or away, when there is reference to an approach to the person addressed; as, I shall come home next week; he will come to your house to-day. It is used with other verbs almost as an auxiliary, indicative of approach to the action or state expressed by the verb; as, how came you to do it? Come is used colloquially, with reference to a definite future time approaching, without an auxiliary; as, it will be two years, come next Christmas; i. e., when Christmas shall come. "They were cried In meeting, come next Sunday." Come, in the imperative, is used to excite attention, or to invite to motion or joint action; come, let us go. "This is the heir; come, let us kill him." When repeated, it sometimes expresses haste, or impatience, and sometimes rebuke. "Come, come, no time for lamentation now."
To come, yet to arrive, future. "In times to come." "There's pippins and cheese to come."
To come about.
(a)
To come to pass; to arrive; to happen; to result; as, how did these things come about?
(b)
To change; to come round; as, the ship comes about. "The wind is come about." "On better thoughts, and my urged reasons, They are come about, and won to the true side."
To come abroad.
(a)
To move or be away from one's home or country. "Am come abroad to see the world."
(b)
To become public or known. (Obs.) "Neither was anything kept secret, but that it should come abroad."
To come across, to meet; to find, esp. by chance or suddenly. "We come across more than one incidental mention of those wars." "Wagner's was certainly one of the strongest and most independent natures I ever came across."
To come after.
(a)
To follow.
(b)
To come to take or to obtain; as, to come after a book.
To come again, to return. "His spirit came again and he revived." - -
To come and go.
(a)
To appear and disappear; to change; to alternate. "The color of the king doth come and go."
(b)
(Mech.) To play backward and forward.
To come at.
(a)
To reach; to arrive within reach of; to gain; as, to come at a true knowledge of ourselves.
(b)
To come toward; to attack; as, he came at me with fury.
To come away, to part or depart.
To come between, to intervene; to separate; hence, to cause estrangement.
To come by.
(a)
To obtain, gain, acquire. "Examine how you came by all your state."
(b)
To pass near or by way of.
To come down.
(a)
To descend.
(b)
To be humbled.
To come down upon, to call to account, to reprimand. (Colloq.)
To come home.
(a)
To return to one's house or family.
(b)
To come close; to press closely; to touch the feelings, interest, or reason.
(c)
(Naut.) To be loosened from the ground; said of an anchor.
To come in.
(a)
To enter, as a town, house, etc. "The thief cometh in."
(b)
To arrive; as, when my ship comes in.
(c)
To assume official station or duties; as, when Lincoln came in.
(d)
To comply; to yield; to surrender. "We need not fear his coming in"
(e)
To be brought into use. "Silken garments did not come in till late."
(f)
To be added or inserted; to be or become a part of.
(g)
To accrue as gain from any business or investment.
(h)
To mature and yield a harvest; as, the crops come in well.
(i)
To have sexual intercourse; with to or unto.
(j)
To have young; to bring forth; as, the cow will come in next May. (U. S.)
To come in for, to claim or receive. "The rest came in for subsidies."
To come into, to join with; to take part in; to agree to; to comply with; as, to come into a party or scheme.
To come it over, to hoodwink; to get the advantage of. (Colloq.)
To come near or To come nigh, to approach in place or quality; to be equal to. "Nothing ancient or modern seems to come near it."
To come of.
(a)
To descend or spring from. "Of Priam's royal race my mother came."
(b)
To result or follow from. "This comes of judging by the eye."
To come off.
(a)
To depart or pass off from.
(b)
To get free; to get away; to escape.
(c)
To be carried through; to pass off; as, it came off well.
(d)
To acquit one's self; to issue from (a contest, etc.); as, he came off with honor; hence, substantively, a come-off, an escape; an excuse; an evasion. (Colloq.)
(e)
To pay over; to give. (Obs.)
(f)
To take place; to happen; as, when does the race come off?
(g)
To be or become after some delay; as, the weather came off very fine.
(h)
To slip off or be taken off, as a garment; to separate.
(i)
To hurry away; to get through.
To come off by, to suffer. (Obs.) "To come off by the worst."
To come off from, to leave. "To come off from these grave disquisitions."
To come on.
(a)
To advance; to make progress; to thrive.
(b)
To move forward; to approach; to supervene.
To come out.
(a)
To pass out or depart, as from a country, room, company, etc. "They shall come out with great substance."
(b)
To become public; to appear; to be published. "It is indeed come out at last."
(c)
To end; to result; to turn out; as, how will this affair come out? he has come out well at last.
(d)
To be introduced into society; as, she came out two seasons ago.
(e)
To appear; to show itself; as, the sun came out.
(f)
To take sides; to announce a position publicly; as, he came out against the tariff.
(g)
To publicly admit oneself to be homosexual.
To come out with, to give publicity to; to disclose.
To come over.
(a)
To pass from one side or place to another. "Perpetually teasing their friends to come over to them."
(b)
To rise and pass over, in distillation.
To come over to, to join.
To come round.
(a)
To recur in regular course.
(b)
To recover. (Colloq.)
(c)
To change, as the wind.
(d)
To relent.
(e)
To circumvent; to wheedle. (Colloq.)
To come short, to be deficient; to fail of attaining. "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God."
To come to.
(a)
To consent or yield.
(b)
(Naut.) (with the accent on to) To luff; to bring the ship's head nearer the wind; to anchor.
(c)
(with the accent on to) To recover, as from a swoon.
(d)
To arrive at; to reach.
(e)
To amount to; as, the taxes come to a large sum.
(f)
To fall to; to be received by, as an inheritance.
To come to blows. See under Blow.
To come to grief. See under Grief.
To come to a head.
(a)
To suppurate, as a boil.
(b)
To mature; to culminate; as a plot.
To come to one's self, to recover one's senses.
To come to pass, to happen; to fall out.
To come to the scratch.
(a)
(Prize Fighting) To step up to the scratch or mark made in the ring to be toed by the combatants in beginning a contest; hence:
(b)
To meet an antagonist or a difficulty bravely. (Colloq.)
To come to time.
(a)
(Prize Fighting) To come forward in order to resume the contest when the interval allowed for rest is over and "time" is called; hence:
(b)
To keep an appointment; to meet expectations. (Colloq.)
To come together.
(a)
To meet for business, worship, etc.; to assemble.
(b)
To live together as man and wife.
To come true, to happen as predicted or expected.
To come under, to belong to, as an individual to a class.
To come up
(a)
to ascend; to rise.
(b)
To be brought up; to arise, as a question.
(c)
To spring; to shoot or rise above the earth, as a plant.
(d)
To come into use, as a fashion.
To come up the capstan (Naut.), to turn it the contrary way, so as to slacken the rope about it.
To come up the tackle fall (Naut.), to slacken the tackle gently.
To come up to, to rise to; to equal.
To come up with, to overtake or reach by pursuit.
To come upon.
(a)
To befall.
(b)
To attack or invade.
(c)
To have a claim upon; to become dependent upon for support; as, to come upon the town.
(d)
To light or chance upon; to find; as, to come upon hid treasure.



preposition
Upon  prep.  On; used in all the senses of that word, with which it is interchangeable. "Upon an hill of flowers." "Our host upon his stirrups stood anon." "Thou shalt take of the blood that is upon the altar." "The Philistines be upon thee, Samson." "As I did stand my watch upon the hill." "He made a great difference between people that did rebel upon wantonness, and them that did rebel upon want." "This advantage we lost upon the invention of firearms." "Upon the whole, it will be necessary to avoid that perpetual repetition of the same epithets which we find in Homer." "He had abandoned the frontiers, retiring upon Glasgow." "Philip swore upon the Evangelists to abstain from aggression in my absence." Note: Upon conveys a more distinct notion that on carries with it of something that literally or metaphorically bears or supports. It is less employed than it used to be, on having for the most part taken its place. Some expressions formed with it belong only to old style; as, upon pity they were taken away; that is, in consequence of pity: upon the rate of thirty thousand; that is, amounting to the rate: to die upon the hand; that is, by means of the hand: he had a garment upon; that is, upon himself: the time is coming fast upon; that is, upon the present time. By the omission of its object, upon acquires an adverbial sense, as in the last two examples.
To assure upon (Law), to promise; to undertake.
To come upon. See under Come.
To take upon, to assume.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Come upon" Quotes from Famous Books



... trim as good Dame Trudge. Here and hereabout grow the largest, if not the sweetest, oysters in Great Britain, and their cultivation is chiefly the work of the gentler sex. They do not look very gentle—or at least very frail—as you come upon a group of oyster-women in their masculine hats and boots munching their bread and cheese under a wall, but they are a good-natured race, and most respectful to their betters. Anything less suggestive of Billingsgate than the language ...
— Lippincott's Magazine, Vol. 22, August, 1878 • Various

... consternation. "You are taking responsibilities upon yourself which nobody could lay upon you; you! young—tender" (the doctor paused for a word, afraid to be too complimentary)—"delicate! Why, the whole burden of this family will come upon you. There is not one able to help himself in the whole bundle! I am shocked!—I am alarmed!—I don't know what to ...
— The Doctor's Family • Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant

... truth for once," came a bitter, ringing voice. They turned, and there on the threshold stood Mr. Wilding. Unheard he had come upon them. He was bareheaded and carried his drawn sword. There was blood upon it, and there was blood on the lace that half concealed the hand that held it; otherwise—and saving that his shoes and stockings were sodden with the dew from the long grass in the orchard—he was as spotless ...
— Mistress Wilding • Rafael Sabatini

... Sometimes it almost shakes our faith in God's justice, when we suffer terrible consequences, solely because we did our duty; and it seems to me bitterly hard, inscrutable, that all my misfortunes should have come upon me thick and fast, simply because I obeyed my mother. You, fathers, say to your children, 'Do this for my sake,' and lovingly they spring to accomplish your wishes; and when they are devoured by agony, and smothered by disgrace, can ...
— At the Mercy of Tiberius • August Evans Wilson

... use trying to make our way through the broken ground, Mike. There is another road that goes through Huerne. We will strike that, and must so get round on the right of the enemy. Even if we come upon them, we are not likely to excite suspicion, as we shall be on a road ...
— In the Irish Brigade - A Tale of War in Flanders and Spain • G. A. Henty


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