[come a cropper] 1. To fall off your horse. •/John’s horse stumbled, and John came a cropper./ 2. To fail. •/Mr. Brown did not have enough money to put into his business and it soon came a cropper./ Compare: RIDING FOR A FALL.

[come across]{v.} 1. or [run across] To find or meet by chance. •/He came across a dollar bill in the suit he was sending to the cleaner./ •/The other day I ran across a book that you might like./ •/I came across George at a party last week; it was the first time I had seen him in months./ Compare: COME ON(3), RUN INTO(3b). 2. To give or do what is asked. •/The robber told the woman to come across with her purse./ •/For hours the police questioned the man suspected of kidnapping the child, and finally he came across with the story./

[come again]{v.}, {informal} Please repeat; please say that again. — Usually used as a command. •/"Harry has just come into a fortune," my wife said. "Come again? " I asked her, not believing it./ •/"Come again," said the hard-of-hearing man./

[come alive] or [come to life] {v.} 1. {informal} To become alert or attentive; wake up and look alive; become active. •/When Mr. Simmons mentioned money, the boys came alive./ •/Bob pushed the starter button, and the engine came alive with a roar./ 2. To look real; take on a bright, natural look. •/Under skillful lighting, the scene came alive./ •/The President came alive in the picture as the artist worked./

[come along]{v.} To make progress; improve; succeed. •/He was coming along well after the operation./ •/Rose is coming right along on the piano./

[come a long way]{v. phr.} To show much improvement; make great progress. •/The school has come a long way since its beginnings./ •/Little Jane has come a long way since she broke her leg./

[come apart at the seams]{v. phr.}, {slang}, {informal} To become upset to the point where one loses self-control and composure as if having suffered a sudden nervous breakdown. •/After his divorce Joe seemed to be coming apart at the seams./

[come around] See: COME ROUND.

[come at]{v.} 1. To approach; come to or against; advance toward. •/The young boxer came at the champion cautiously./ 2. To understand (a word or idea) or master (a skill); succeed with. •/The sense of an unfamiliar word is hard to come at./

[come back]{v.}, {informal} 1. To reply; answer. •/The lawyer came back sharply in defense of his client./ •/No matter how the audience heckled him, the comedian always had an answer to come back with./ 2. To get a former place or position back, reach again a place which you have lost. •/After a year off to have her baby, the singer came back to even greater fame./ •/It is hard for a retired prize fighter to come hack and beat a younger man./

[comeback]{n.}, {v. phr.}, {slang}, {citizen’s band radio jargon} A return call. •/Thanks for your comeback./

[come back to earth] or [come down to earth] {v. phr.} To return to the real world; stop imagining or dreaming; think and behave as usual. •/After Jane met the movie star it was hard for her to come back to earth./ •/Bill was sitting and daydreaming so his mother told him to come down to earth and to do his homework./ Compare: COME TO ONE’S SENSES, DOWN-TO-EARTH. Contrast: IN THE CLOUDS.

[come between]{v.} To part; divide; separate. •/John’s mother-in-law came to live in his home, and as time passed she came between him and his wife./ •/Bill’s hot rod came between him and his studies, and his grades went down./

[come by]{v.} To get; obtain; acquire. •/A good job like that is hard to come by./ •/Money easily come by is often easily spent./ •/How did she come by that money?/

[come by honestly]{v. phr.}, {informal} To inherit (a characteristic) from your parents. •/Joe comes by his hot temper honestly; his father is the same way./

[come clean]{v. phr.}, {slang} To tell all; tell the whole story; confess. •/The boy suspected of stealing the watch came clean after long questioning./

[comedown]{n.} Disappointment; embarrassment; failure. •/It was quite a comedown for Al when the girl he took for granted refused his marriage proposal./

[come down]{v.} 1. To reduce itself; amount to no more than. — Followed by "to". •/The quarrel finally came down to a question of which boy would do the dishes./ Syn.: BOIL DOWN(3). 2. To be handed down or passed along, descend from parent to child; pass from older generation to younger ones. •/Mary’s necklace had come down to her from her grandmother./

[come down hard on]{v.}, {informal} 1. To scold or punish strongly. •/The principal came down hard on the boys for breaking the window./ 2. To oppose strongly. •/The minister in his sermon came down hard on drinking./

[come down in the world]{v. phr.} To lose a place of respect or honor, become lower (as in rank or fortune). •/The stranger plainly had come down a long way in the world./ Compare: DOWN ON ONE’S LUCK.

[come down off one’s high horse]{v. phr.} To become less arrogant; to assume a more modest disposition. •/The boastful candidate for Congress quickly came down off his high horse when he was soundly beaten by his opponent./

[come down on like a ton of bricks]{v. phr.}, {slang} To direct one’s full anger at somebody. •/When the janitor was late for work, the manager came down on him like a ton of bricks./

[come down to earth] See: COME BACK TO EARTH.

[come down with]{v.}, {informal} To become sick with; catch. •/We all came down with the mumps./ •/After being out in the rain, George came down with a cold./

[come from far and wide]{v. phr.} To originate or hail from many different places. •/The students at this university come from far and wide and speak many languages./

[come full circle]{v. phr.}, {informal} 1. To become totally opposed to one’s own earlier conviction on a given subject. •/Today’s conservative businessperson has come full circle from former radical student days./ 2. To change and develop, only to end up where one started. •/From modern permissiveness, ideas about child raising have come full circle to the views of our grandparents./

[come hell or high water]{adv. phr.}, {informal} No matter what happens; whatever may come. •/Grandfather said he would go to the fair, come hell or high water./ Compare: COME WHAT MAY, THROUGH THE MILL.

[come home to roost] See: CHICKENS COME HOME TO ROOST.

[come in]{v.} 1. To finish in a sports contest or other competition. •/He came in second in the hundred-yard dash./ 2. To become the fashion; begin to be used. •/Swimming trunks for men came in after World War I; before that men used full swim suits./

[come in for]{v.} To receive. •/He came in for a small fortune when his uncle died./ •/His conduct came in for much criticism./

[come in handy]{v. phr.}, {informal} To prove useful. •/Robinson Crusoe found tools in the ship which came in handy when he built a house./ •/The French he learned in high school came in handy when he was in the army in France./

[come into]{v.} To receive, especially after another’s death; get possession of. •/He came into a lot of money when his father died./ •/He came into possession of the farm after his uncle died./