come forward

phrasal verb

came forward; come forward; coming forward; comes forward

: to make the effort required to provide information, make a claim, volunteer, etc.

No one has yet come forward to claim the reward.

Essex Police is now appealing for anyone with information or dash cam footage of the crash to come forward and help with their inquiries.

—Alex Gidden

The young woman … had come forward after six months to accuse him of assault.

—Jules De Cinque

also : to become publicly known

While the case was dropped the prosecutor says if substantial evidence came forward this case could go to a trial in the future …

—Don Granese

Examples of come forward in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The arrest does not appear to be related to the existing police investigation that surfaced publicly last month, but instead involves a reported victim who came forward after the scandal broke, sources told this news organization. —Devan Patel, The Mercury News, 5 Nov. 2024

But as word of his arrest got around, other people came forward with tips. —Keri Blakinger, Los Angeles Times, 4 Nov. 2024

With water, ripe stone fruit, some powdered sugar and orange blossom come forward. —Chris Perugini, Forbes, 31 Oct. 2024

Delphi double murder trial: Extended video from victim's phone played in court The sheriff also conceded that Allen came forward on his own and never left town. —Jeremy Edwards, ABC News, 25 Oct. 2024

Legal Definition

come forward

intransitive verb

come for·​ward

: to make a presentation of something to the court

—usually used with with

must come forward with materials to show that there is a genuine issue of fact

—J. H. Friedenthal et al.

coming forward with the evidence