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Glite Dictionary
to come up with

to come up with

∞ 2.7
To think of an idea or plan
  • phrasal verb
  • /kʌm ʌp wɪð/
translation icon : idear
  • After brainstorming, she finally came up with an excellent idea for the project.
  • come up with ideas
  • come up with solutions
  • come up with one's own ideas

It's trying to come up with a rule.

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Examples

  • Okay, we need to come up with a plan.

    Thunderbolts* (2025)

  • Try as I might, I could not always come up with an approach that worked.

    Academic text (1992)

  • It's trying to come up with a rule.

    Computerphile

  • But no one has yet come up with a way of doing that.

  • You better come up with something good.

    People Like Us (2012)

  • Let us study the problem from our perspective and come up with a few possible solutions.

    Academic text (2011)

  • If I want to remain competitive, I have to come up with something else.

    Academic text (1999)

  • I'm sure that we'll come up with something before long.

    Come Play with Me (1977)

  • Now, might I suggest, given the nature of our common enemy, and the numbers we're about to encounter, that we come up with a plan?

    The Man with the Iron Fists (2012)

  • And nobody has come up with a satisfactory explanation.

    Alene B. Duerk: The First Woman Admiral (2020)

Synonyms

to create
vsto come up with
∞ 1.0

To make something new that does not exist yet

focuses specifically on producing or supplying ideas, answers, or needed plans
to come up
vsto come up with
∞ 3.2

To think of an idea or plan

is used more broadly for any needed ideas or items, not only desirable ones
to think of
vsto come up with
866 2.1

Invent a plan or idea in your mind

is often used to provide practical solutions rather than just briefly conceiving ideas
to develop
vsto come up with
668 1.8

To create something new like an idea or product

is often used for quickly providing a needed idea rather than long processes
to work up
vsto come up with
50 3.9

To develop an idea, plan, or design with effort

is used more for producing or supplying ideas without long stepwise development
to think up
vsto come up with
48 3.2

To make up an idea, plan, or excuse

is used more generally to provide needed ideas or practical answers
to dream up
vsto come up with
  • Informal
38 3.9

To think of a new or unusual idea

is used for practical or needed ideas rather than fanciful or playful inventions

Antonyms

to withhold
210 5.1

Refuse to give something someone wants or needs

How Helpful

to deliver
583 2.6
to devise
135 4.8
to come up with
∞ 2.7
to propose
∞ 3.0
to suggest
∞ 1.6

Surface Forms

come up with infinitive
came up with past
come up with past participle
coming up with present participle
comes up with third person singular

Morphology

come + up + with

The components 'come' (to move/appear) and 'up' (emergence) give a sensible image of something arising, so learners who know the words can often infer that an idea 'comes up' and is thus produced; however, the particle + preposition combination 'come up with' functions as a phrasal verb whose precise meaning 'think of/provide' is not fully predictable from literal compositional rules. The construction is therefore partially transparent — it offers helpful clues but still requires prior exposure to settle the exact sense and usage.

Etymology

Come up with paints a simple picture: come and up show something rising into view, and with suggests bringing it along. When you 'come up with' an idea, the idea seems to appear and be brought forward, so the phrase means 'think of' or 'produce' a plan or answer.