[come to blows]{v. phr.} To begin to fight. •/The two quarrelingboys came to blows after school./ •/The two countries came to blows becauseone wanted to be independent from the other./

[come to grief]{v. phr.} To have a bad accident or disappointment;meet trouble or ruin; end badly; wreck; fail. •/Bill came to grief learningto drive a car./ •/Nick’s hopes for a new house came to grief when thehouse he was building burned down./ •/The fishing boat came to grief offCape Cod./

[come to grips with]{v. phr.} 1. To get hold of (another wrestler) inclose fighting. •/After circling around for a minute, the two wrestlers cameto grips with each other./ 2. To struggle seriously with (an idea orproblem). •/Mr. Blake’s leaching helps students come to grips with theimportant ideas in the history lesson./ •/Harry cannot be a leader, becausehe never quite comes to grips with a problem./ Compare: COME TO TERMS(2).

[come to hand]{v. phr.} To be received or obtained. •/Father’sletter was mailed from Florida last week and came to hand today./ •/The newbooks came to hand today./ •/New information about the boy’s disappearancecame to hand yesterday./

[come to heel] See: TO HEEL.

[come to life] See: COME ALIVE.

[come to light]{v. phr.} To be discovered; become known; appear.•/John’s thefts from the bank where he worked came to light when the bankexaminers made an inspection./ •/When the old woman died it came to lightthat she was actually rich./ •/New facts about ancient Egypt have recentlycome to light./ Compare: BRING TO LIGHT.

[come to mind]{v. phr.} To occur to someone. •/A new idea for theadvertising campaign came to mind as I was reading your book./

[come to nothing] also {formal} [come to naught] {v. phr.} Toend in failure; fail; be in vain. •/The dog’s attempts to climb the treeafter the cat came to nothing./

[come to one’s senses]{v. phr.} 1. Become conscious again; wake up.•/The boxer was knocked out and did not come to his senses for severalminutes./ •/The doctors gave Tom an anesthetic before his operation; thenthe doctor took out Tom’s appendix before he came to his senses./ Compare:COME TO(1). 2. To think clearly; behave as usual or as you should; actsensibly. •/A boy threw a snowball at me and before I could come to my senseshe ran away./ •/Don’t act so foolishly. Come to your senses!/ Contrast:OUT OF ONE’S HEAD.

[come to pass]{v. phr.}, {literary} To happen; occur. •/Strangethings come to pass in troubled times./ •/It came to pass that the jailervisited him by night./ •/His hopes of success did not come to pass./Compare: BRING TO PASS, COME ABOUT.

[come to terms]{v. phr.} To reach an agreement. •/Management and thelabor union came to terms about a new arrangement and a strike wasprevented./

[come to the point] or [get to the point] {v. phr.} To talk aboutthe important thing; reach the important facts of the matter; reach the centralquestion or fact. •/Henry was giving a lot of history and explanation, buthis father asked him to come to the point./ •/A good newspaper story mustcome right to the point and save the details for later./ Contrast: BEAT ABOUTTHE BUSH.

[come to think of it]{v. phr.}, {informal} As I think again;indeed; really. •/Come to think of it, he has already been given what heneeds./ •/Come to think of it, I should write my daughter today./

[come true]{v.} To really happen; change from a dream or a plan into afact. •/It took years of planning and saving, but their seagoing vacationcame true at last./ •/It was a dream come true when he met thePresident./ •/His hope of living to 100 did not come true./

[come up]{v.} 1. To become a subject for discussion or decision totalk about or decide about. •/"He was a good salesman, and price never cameup until the very last," Mary said./ •/The question of wage increases cameup at the board meeting./ •/Mayor Jones comes up for reelection thisfall./ 2. To be equal; match in value. — Used with "to". •/The new modelcar comes up to last year’s./ 3. To approach; come close. •/We saw a bigblack bear coming up on us from the woods./ •/Christmas is coming upsoon./ •/The team was out practicing for the big game coming up./ 4. Toprovide; supply; furnish. — Used with "with". •/For years Jones kept comingup with new and good ideas./ •/The teacher asked a difficult question, butfinally Ted came up with a good answer./

[come up in the world] or [rise in the world] {v. phr.} To gainsuccess, wealth, or importance in life; rise to a position of greater wealth orimportance. •/He had come up in the world since he peddled his wife’s bakedgoods from a pushcart./ Compare: GET AHEAD. Contrast: COME DOWN IN THE WORLD.

[come up smelling like a rose]{v. phr.} To escape from a difficultsituation or misdeed unscathed or without punishment. •/A is predicted thatCongressman Brown, in spite of the current investigation into his financialaffairs, will come up smelling like a rose at the end./

[come up to]{v. phr.} To equal. •/The meals cooked in mostrestaurants do not come up to those prepared at home./

[come up with]{v. phr.} 1. To offer. •/We can always depend on JohnSmith to come up with a good solution for any problem we might have./ 2. Toproduce on demand. •/I won’t be able to buy this car, because I cannot comeup with the down payment you require./ 3. To find. •/How on earth did youcome up with such a brilliant idea?/

[come upon] See: COME ON(3).

[come what may]{adv. phr.} Even if troubles come; no matter whathappens; in spite of opposition or mischance. •/Charles has decided to get acollege education, come what may./ •/The editor says we will publish theschool paper this week, come what may./

[comfort] See: COLD COMFORT.

[comfortable as an old shoe]{adj. phr.}, {informal} Pleasant andrelaxed; not stiff, strict or too polite; easy to talk and work with. •/Thestranger was as comfortable as an old shoe, and we soon were talking like oldfriends./

[coming and going] or [going and coming] {adv. phr.} 1. Both ways;in both directions. •/The truck driver stops at the same cafe coming andgoing./ •/John was late. He got punished both going and coming; his teacherpunished him and his parents punished him./ 2. Caught or helpless; in yourpower; left with no way out of a difficulty. — Used after "have". •/If Bethstayed in the house, Mother would make her help with the cleaning; if she wentoutside, Father would make her help wash the car — they had her coming andgoing./ •/Uncle Mike is a good checker player, and he soon had me beatcoming and going./ Compare: BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP BLUE SEA.

[coming out] See: COME OUT(1).

[coming out party]{n. phr.} A debutante party in which a young girl isformally introduced to society. •/Coming out parties used to be more popularin the early twentieth century than nowadays, primarily because they cost a lotof money./

[comings and goings]{n. pl.}, {informal} 1. Times of arriving andgoing away; movements. •/I can’t keep up with the children’s comings andgoings./ 2. Activities; doings; business. •/Mary knows all the comings andgoings in the neighborhood./