- Home
- Idioms
- come across
come across
come across
1. to be compliant. Oh, she'll come across, just you wait; she'll do what we want.
2. to agree; to yield. How can we get him to come across?
come across someone or something
and run across someone or somethingto find someone or something; to discover someone or something. John came across a book he had been looking for. Where did you run across that lovely skirt?
come across
(to something) to agree to something; to yield to someone else's position. He came across to our point of view. Will a sign-on bonus get him to come across?
come across (with something)
to deliver what is expected of one. You had better come across with what you owe me. You owe me money, and I wish you would come across.
come across (somebody/something)
to happen to find someone or something I was looking through a magazine and came across an interesting article on American artists.
come across (as)
to appear to have a particular attitude or character Sometimes he seemed like a good old pal, but other times he came across as an angry and unpleasant man.
come across
1. Also, come upon; run across. Meet or find by chance, as in I came across your old letters today, or He came upon her looking in the store window. or If I run across it, I'll call you. The first term dates from the 1800s. The first variant was used by Oliver Goldsmith in She Stoops to Conquer (1773): "You are to go sideways till you come upon Crack-Skull Common." The second variant was used by Mark Twain in Tramp Abroad (1880): "If I don't run across you in Italy, you hunt me up in London."
2. Also, come across with. Pay or give what is expected or demanded, as in He finally came across with some food, or The landlord wants the rent, so come across. [Colloquial; late 1800s]
3. Make a particular impression, as in
He comes across as a very sincere person or
Her meaning doesn't really come across; she'll have to revise the speech. [
Colloquial; first half of 1900s] Also see
get across;
put across.
come across
v.1. To arrive by crossing something: To get to our house, it's fastest to come across the south bridge.
2. To meet or find by chance: I came across my old college roommate in town today.
3. To encounter something: We came across a few small mistakes in the students' work.
4. To give an impression: I hope I didn't come across as rude.
5. To be clear or manifest: It did not really come across that they were only trying to help.
6. To pay something that is demanded: You had better come across with the check by tomorrow.