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

Others are believed to have reunited in the U.S. but aren’t coming forward, possibly fearing government interaction. —Rebecca Santana, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2024

Several other people came forward with stories of their own mysterious punctures in the same room. —Grace Tucker, The Enquirer, 24 Oct. 2024

Rosselló came forward with the allegation in the April 2023 Peacock docuseries, Menendez + Menudo: Boys Betrayed. —Jackie Strause, The Hollywood Reporter, 23 Oct. 2024

Buzbee said thousands of people have come forward with claims against Combs, and that his clients hail from 25 states. —Mary Whitfill Roeloffs, Forbes, 22 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