to come to life
64
3.7
- phrasal verb
- /kʌm tə laɪf/
:
cobrar vida
- As the curtains opened, the play's characters seemed to come to life, captivating the audience with their emotions.
- make come to life
- characters come to life
- ideas come to life
But in this situation, what, what came to life was conversations.
- But in this situation, what, what came to life was conversations.
- Let's plug this in and see it come to life for the first time.
- It's just these five elements that come to life and then turn to dust.
- It was a a magical experience to see this sort of come to life in that venue.
- Really came to life by accident.
- What, she might not see this book come to life.
- So this is how the Crossbody bag came to life.
- One was that I just really wanted to see the product come to life, it was so cool.
- I'm just so pumped that this idea came to life.
- And then I watched the mission come to life.
- And I saw the living form of tango come to life.
- And I come back and literally, it was like Acts came to life within the last three months.
- It was as though it was their greatest fear come to life.
- All your dreams will come to life.
Examples
-
It was a a magical experience to see this sort of come to life in that venue.
-
The characters in my act have come to life.
-
One was that I just really wanted to see the product come to life, it was so cool.
-
And The thing is it comes with a nice little glass display, but these really pop and really come to life when you light them.
-
As soon as you think of it, it comes to life.
-
Although a great place is not a person, it can come to life if you allow it to.
Academic text (2009) -
Teachers and students can use their own experience to make mathematics and music "come to life" in the classroom.
Academic text (2015) -
The stronger and more realistic your dialogue, the more your characters come to life and enhance your story.
Academic text (2011) -
The art itself seemed to come to life, causing delight in spite of the disruption.
-
Characters that had evolved for centuries suddenly came to life and began roaming around.
Academic text (2006)
Synonyms
66
3.9
To make or become more active and interesting
56
3.7
Become lively and full of activity or interest
8
3.8
To get active and more real after a time with little activity
4
4.0
Start working or moving quickly after being quiet
Antonyms
How Lively
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to become lively or animated' is directly derived from combining 'come' (move/arrive), the directional/target marker 'to', and 'life' (liveliness), i.e. moving into a state of life. This motion-into-state construction (come to + N) is common across languages and in English, so a B1 learner who knows the parts will readily infer the idiom's meaning.
Etymology
Come to life shows a simple picture: something quiet or still suddenly starts to move and feels alive. Imagine a model town or a room that is empty until lights, sound and people arrive — then it comes to life because the action (come) brings life, so the phrase means 'become lively' or 'seem real'.