to come forward
- phrasal verb
- /kʌm ˈfɔːrwərd/
- If anyone knows something about the case, they should come forward and share what they know.
- encourage people to come forward
- come forward to tell
- several have come forward
Interestingly, Lucien Smith himself has since come forward and kind of admitted it.
- Interestingly, Lucien Smith himself has since come forward and kind of admitted it.
- So hopefully more people can come forward and make this much more well known.
- And then the fact that we get them to come forward was just a miracle, quite honestly.
- OK, thank you for being here and thank you for coming forward and talking about this.
- She got those two female writers to come forward, and that was all her sourcing and reporting.
- You know, no one, no one came forward and said we were old.
- At that young age though, would you never come forward and tell people how you are feeling?
- I think witnesses, they see the dollar signs and they come forward.
- So this person said, well, it's time for me to come forward.
- And, and so, you know, a little prodding and they came forward and they and they told a great story.
- Then that curiosity creates space for his truth to come forward.
- I contacted Bohr and his group, but they wouldn't come forward with evidence to back up this claim.
- I said, I said, what is it going to take for Eric Lopes to come forward and give a statement on what happened?
- And I say, show me one astronaut, one astronaut who came forward and said it was all a hoax.
- But people have come forward, you know, that.
Examples
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If you know anything, please come forward.
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On several occasions, participants were called on to come forward and demonstrate their teaching methods.
Academic text (1993) -
OK, thank you for being here and thank you for coming forward and talking about this.
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So hopefully more people can come forward and make this much more well known.
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Basically we just want to give you a chance to come forward here and communicate with us.
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Finding people who are willing to come forward and talk publicly about their experiences.
Academic text (2005) -
I would now like to ask the Dickelspiel Award winners to come forward at this time.
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"Dig into your great resources and find a family that's willing to come forward."
Academic text (2005) -
"The woman who found Reverend Singletary's body came forward while you were gone," Joy Collins said, excited.
Fiction book (1990) -
After the incident, several witnesses came forward to provide crucial information.
Synonyms
To offer to help or do something without being paid
Take action and accept responsibility for a task or problem
Volunteer to help or take responsibility
To give someone support with a task or problem
Raise your hand to show you want to take part
To offer to take charge of a group or task
Antonyms
How Willing
Surface Forms
Morphology
The literal sense 'move toward the front' is directly derivable from 'come' + 'forward', and this physical motion is commonly extended metaphorically to mean stepping up to offer help or information. Because the volunteer/offer sense requires mapping the spatial metaphor to a social action, it is partly predictable but not fully literal for a B1 learner, so it is best classified as semi-transparent.
Etymology
The phrasal verb come forward gives a clear picture: someone comes out and steps forward into view to speak or help. So, it means 'to offer yourself' or 'to volunteer', especially to give information or help.