come and go

1. Arrive and depart, either briefly or repeatedly; go to and fro. Shakespeare had it in The Merry Wives of Windsor (2:2): “He may come and go between you both.” [Late 1300s]

2. Alternately appear and disappear, as in This rash is odd; it comes and goes . [Mid-1300s] Also see coming or going ; easy come, easy go .

Example Sentences

Lucy was admitted to a psychiatric unit on a voluntary basis, which meant she could come and go freely.

From BBC

Darby is free to come and go as she chooses, but she comes at least four days a week.

From Los Angeles Times

I’ve been doing this since I was a child, and I have been exposed to the industry long enough to understand that moments come and go.

From Los Angeles Times

“People get used to the candy they like growing up and they tend to just like it forever. There can be new flavors and new innovations, but those new things tend to come and go. We’ve always found that our most popular flavors are the ones that have always been there, like butterscotch and root beer Dum-Dums or anything with a classic fruit flavor.”

From Salon

It was a slow death for the Belichick era in Foxborough, potential Brady replacements would come and go - including a rare first-round pick of Mac Jones that never worked out.

From BBC

Related Words

• alter
• intersperse
• rotate
• vary
• waver