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3. come to

come to

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come to

to become conscious; to wake up. We threw a little cold water in his face, and he came to immediately.

See also: come

come to something

to end up being helpful or significant. (See also amount to something; when it comes to something.) Do you think this work will come to anything? I don't think this will come to what we were promised.

See also: come

come to

1. Recover consciousness, as in She fainted but quickly came to. [Second half of 1500s]

2. Arrive at, learn, as in I came to see that Tom had been right all along. [c. 1700]

3. See amount to, def. 2.

4. See when it comes to.

5. Stop a sailboat or other vessel by bringing the bow into the wind or dropping anchor, as in "The gale having gone over, we came to" (Richard Dana, Two Years Before the Mast, 1840). [Early 1700s] Also see the subsequent entries beginning with come to.

See also: come

come to

v.

1. To arrive at a place: We came to this city looking for a new life.

2. To come to the mind of someone; occur to someone: An interesting idea just came to me.

3. To have some sum as a total: The bill for dinner came to $40.

4. To arrive at some final state; amount to something: What will these strange events come to? So far, my miserable life has come to nothing.

5. To recover consciousness: The fainting victim came to.

6. Nautical To bring the bow into the wind: We should stop right here, so come to and we'll let the sails luff.

7. Nautical To anchor: We came to in the cove and spent the night there.

See also: come

come to

light/hand

To be clearly revealed or disclosed: "A further problem ... came to light last summer as a result of post-flight inspections" (John Noble Wilford).

See also: come