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

Especially in today’s industry, when work is becoming harder and harder to come by. —Harrison Richlin, IndieWire, 18 Jan. 2025

His losses have come by way of knockout (four), and submission (one). —Trent Reinsmith, Forbes, 17 Jan. 2025

Third-party testing is hard to come by, but the nonprofit Environmental Working Group (EWG) is independently funded and has a Skin Deep database tool for consumers to parse what harmful ingredients might be lurking in their cosmetics and personal care products. —Kat Merck, WIRED, 17 Jan. 2025

But Higbee set a tone for the entire Rams team on Monday, with five catches in the first quarter to ignite two scoring drives for a team that has found first-quarter points hard to come by this year. —Adam Grosbard, Orange County Register, 17 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Kids Definition

come by

verb

1

: to make a visit

come by after dinner

2

: acquire

good help is hard to come by