to come up
- phrasal verb
- /kʌm ʌp/
- Do you expect this subject to come up again?
- issues come up
- questions come up
- come up in conversation
It's those digs that come up early and often.
- It's those digs that come up early and often.
- The next fact that comes up is what about nukes?
- Does digging things up come up in your job?
- Second issue comes up in the last sentence.
- Things will come up from our past.
- Another thing that is big coming up for you is young Lando.
- Our next one comes up from Matt Davis.
- Some people won't make it because something came up and they got busy.
- Then there are things that come up in conversation or in reading.
- I guess the question that kept coming up is how do we stop this?
- Beat, the big week on five coming up, big week.
Examples
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The instructor hoped that one of the issues that would come up would be that of with-it-ness.
Academic text (1996) -
It's going to come up a lot, OK.
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So obviously this is going to come up, right?
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Things will come up from our past.
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At another meeting recently, the question came up: How do people come to care?
Academic text (1991) -
At one point, the subject of inequality in America came up, and the vice president asked for my opinion.
Academic text (2011) -
While two students probe these matters, other topics come up in a predictable fashion.
Academic text (1993) -
During our meeting, several important issues will come up that we need to address.
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If any questions come up during the presentation, please feel free to ask.
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I'm sure new opportunities will come up as we continue to network in this field.
Synonyms
To take place, often by chance and without planning
To mention a subject for discussion
To become known or start to exist, for example as an idea
Come into someone's mind suddenly or unexpectedly
Start to exist or happen
To happen, often by chance or without planning
To appear suddenly, often as a problem or question
Appear suddenly and without warning
Antonyms
How Prominent
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to produce or bring forth an idea' is metaphorically linked to 'come' (to appear) + 'up' (emergence), so learners who know the words may partially infer that something 'comes up' or arises. However, the specific transitive idiom 'come up with' meaning 'to invent/produce' is not fully predictable from those constituents and relies on conventionalized usage, making it only partially transparent to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Come up can mean 'to be mentioned' in a talk or meeting. Picture a topic rising into view in a conversation like a bubble coming up to the surface; that is why we say a subject 'comes up' when people mention it.