COME BY

Pronunciation (US): (GB):

I. (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Obtain, especially accidentally

Synonyms:

come by; come into

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "come by" is one way to...):

acquire; get (come into the possession of something concrete or abstract)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "come by"):

hit; stumble (encounter by chance)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Visit informally and spontaneously

Example:

We frequently drop by the neighbors' house for a cup of coffee

Synonyms:

come by; drop by; drop in

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "come by" is one way to...):

call; call in; visit (pay a brief visit)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Credits

Context examples:

There’s as much seamanship and pluck in a good cutter action as in a line-o’-battleship fight, though you may not come by a title nor the thanks of Parliament for it.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Kitty and me were to spend the day there, and Mrs. Forster promised to have a little dance in the evening; (by the bye, Mrs. Forster and me are such friends!) and so she asked the two Harringtons to come, but Harriet was ill, and so Pen was forced to come by herself; and then, what do you think we did?

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

She must say that she had more than half a mind to go with the young people; it would be such an indulgence to her; she had not seen her poor dear sister Price for more than twenty years; and it would be a help to the young people in their journey to have her older head to manage for them; and she could not help thinking her poor dear sister Price would feel it very unkind of her not to come by such an opportunity.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Dorothy did not know what to say to this, for all the people seemed to think her a witch, and she knew very well she was only an ordinary little girl who had come by the chance of a cyclone into a strange land.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

One tallow stain, or even two, might come by chance; but when I see no less than five, I think that there can be little doubt that the individual must be brought into frequent contact with burning tallow—walks upstairs at night probably with his hat in one hand and a guttering candle in the other.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Plainly the letter had come by the laboratory door; possibly, indeed, it had been written in the cabinet; and if that were so, it must be differently judged, and handled with the more caution.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Did anything come by post?

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Mars can only come by every two years to your sign, so this is wonderful news—in January, launch something new.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

Indeed, he was a very worthy gentleman, of good courage, and great hardiness, and it grieves me that he should have come by such a hurt.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She related to them all that had happened, and when the mother heard how she had come by her great riches, she thought she should like her ugly, lazy daughter to go and try her fortune.