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come on

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come on

 

1. Stop it!; Stop doing that. (Usually come On!) Mary: Are you really going to sell your new car? Sally: Come on! How dumb do you think I am?

2. please oblige me. Mother: Sorry. You can't go! Bill: Come on, let me go to the picnic! "Come on," whined Jimmy, "I want some more!"

3. to hurry up; to follow someone. If you don't come on, we'll miss the train.

4. [for electricity or some other device] to start operating. After a while, the lights came on again. I hope the heat comes on soon.

5. to walk out and appear on stage. You are to come on when you hear your cue.

6. Fig. [for a pain] to begin hurting; [for a disease] to attack someone. The pain began to come on again, and Sally had to lie down.

7. [for a program] to be broadcast on radio or television. The news didn't come on until an hour later.

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come on (duty)

to begin to work at one's scheduled time. When did you come on duty tonight? What time does she come on?

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come on

somehow to advance in some fashion, manner, rate, or degree. Darkness comes on early these days. The illness comes on by degrees.

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come on (to someone)

Sl. to attempt to interest someone romantically or sexually. He was trying to come on to me, but I found him unappealing.

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come on(to) someone or something

to find someone or something by accident; to happen onto someone or something. When I was out on my walk, I came on a little shop that sells leather goods. I came onto an old friend of yours downtown today.

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come (up)on someone or something

to find or happen on someone or something. (See also happen (up)on someone or something.) I came upon Walter while I was in the bookstore. I came on this little store near Maple Street that has everything we need.

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come on

(spoken)

tell the truth Oh, come on - you have no idea who stole your credit cards.

See also: come, on

come on

1. Move forward, progress, develop. For example, We stopped as soon as darkness began to come on. [Early 1600s]

2. Hurry up, as in Come on now, it's getting late. This imperative to urge someone forward has been so used since about 1450.

3. Also, come upon. Meet or find unexpectedly, as in We came on him while walking down the street, or I came upon an old friend in the bookstore today. [Second half of 1700s]

4. Make a stage entrance, as in After the next cue she comes on from the right. [Early 1800s]

5. Please oblige me, as in Come on, that's no excuse for leaving, or Come on, you'll really like this restaurant. [Colloquial; first half of 1900s]

6. Convey a specific personal image, as in He comes on like a go-getter but he's really rather timid. [Slang; c. 1940]

7. Also, come on strong. Behave or speak in an aggressive way, as in Take it easy; you're coming on awfully strong. [c. 1940]

8. Also, come on to. Make sexual advances, as in She reported her boss for coming on to her. This usage probably was derived from the earlier use of the noun come-on for a sexual advance. [Slang; 1950s]

See also: come, on

come on

v.

1. To begin by degrees: Darkness came on quickly that evening. I have a terrible sore throat; I feel the flu coming on.

2. To begin to be broadcast or communicated, as of television or radio programs: My son's favorite show doesn't come on until 7:30.

3. To connect to a channel of communication: We had been talking for an hour when my cousin came on the phone and asked us to stop.

4. To activate or be activated: The room was dark when the lights suddenly came on.

5. To hurry up; move rapidly. Used chiefly as a command: Would you please come on? We'll be late!

6. To stop an inappropriate behavior; abandon a position or an attitude; be obliging. Used chiefly as a command: Come on; you've been using the same feeble excuse for weeks.

7. To convey a particular personal image: The fellow comes on as an old-fashioned reactionary, but he's actually quite open-minded.

8. Slang come on to To show sexual interest in someone: Two people tried to come on to me at the party.

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come on

1. n. a lure; bait. (Usually come-on.) It’s just a come on. Nobody is giving away a decent color TV just for listening to a sales pitch.

2. n. an invitation; a sexual invitation. (Usually come-on.) She stared at him with her bedroom eyes, giving him that age-old come-on.

3. in. to begin to perform well. In the second scene, the entire cast came on, and the audience loved it.

4. in. to feel the effects of a drug; for a drug to take effect. (Drugs.) After what seemed a long time, I began to come on to the stuff.

5. exclam. You are wrong! (Usually Come on!) Come on! Wasteful spending occurs at all levels of all governments! Nobody is innocent!

See also: come, on