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

Synonyms

• call
• come over
• drop by
• drop in
• pop (in)
• run (over)
• run in
• step in
• stop (by or in)
• visit

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

This shouldn’t be super surprising since true rest and relaxation may be harder to come by these days. —Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes.com, 9 May 2025

In the film and television business, good news has been harder to come by than original stories, with the successive disruptions of the pandemic, the writers’ and actors’ strikes, and the wildfires that ravaged Los Angeles in January. —Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 5 May 2025

Still, Evan Smith, co-founder and CEO of global supply chain management company Altana, says AI is giving companies insights and information that has historically been hard to come by. —Susan Caminiti, CNBC, 4 May 2025

Music lovers and musicians come by to hang out and swap stories. —Andrew Gilbert, Mercury News, 1 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Rhymes for come by

• abscissae
• alibi
• alkali
• alumni
• amoebae
• amplify
• annuli
• beautify
• brachii
• butterfly
• calculi
• certify

Kids Definition

come by

verb

1

: to make a visit

come by after dinner

2

: acquire

good help is hard to come by