come about
Britishverb
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to take place; happen
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nautical to change tacks
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Also, come to pass . Happen, take place, as in How did this quarrel come about? or When did this new development come to pass? Shakespeare used the first term, first recorded in 1315, in Hamlet (5:2): “How these things came about.” The variant, dating from the late 1400s, appears often in the Bible, as in, “And it came to pass ... that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus” (Luke 2:1).
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Also, go about . In sailing, to change tack (direction), as in It's important to duck under the boom when we come about . [Mid-1500s]
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
She never overlooked an opportunity, and it seemed that these opportunities came about every fifteen minutes.
From Literature
Chinese exports to 20 Japanese companies will require a certification process, Beijing announced, with details to come about what that process is.
The appearance came about through the pairs' business partner and DJ, Charlie Sloth who has access to "the hip hop rap world", they said.
From BBC
Nagi said her inspiration to take learning to the less-fortunate came about unexpectedly, about three decades ago, when a boy walked into one of her art workshops in Mumbai.
From BBC
The Australian investment manager’s announcement of a A$150 million buyback comes about three months before its scheduled investor day, when Macquarie analysts had been expecting a much larger buyback to be unveiled.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
