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

More than a dozen whistleblowers have come forward against Boeing in recent years, and the number has grown substantially since a door plug blew off a 737 Max plane in January just after takeoff, leaving a gaping hole in the side the plane. —Zahid Mahmood, CNN, 1 July 2024

Several current and former employees have come forward alleging safety lapses at the company, and saying they were retaliated against for reporting their concerns. —Zach Wichter, USA TODAY, 27 June 2024

Another woman who testified Monday came forward with information nine years after the shooting. —Sierra Lopez, The Mercury News, 27 June 2024

Now, one winner has come forward to claim their half of the prize and has been identified as F. Lahijani, according to the California Lottery. —Helena Wegner, Sacramento Bee, 26 June 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