come up

British  

verb

1. to come to a place regarded as higher

2. (of the sun) to rise

3. to begin

   a wind came up

4. to be regurgitated or vomited

5. to present itself or be discussed

   that question will come up again

6. to begin a term, esp one's first term, at a college or university

7. to appear from out of the ground

   my beans have come up early this year

8. informal to win

   have your premium bonds ever come up?

9. to be faced with; come into conflict or competition with

10. to equal or meet a standard

    that just doesn't come up to scratch

11. to produce or find

    she always comes up with the right answer

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come up Idioms  

1. Arise, present itself, as in This question never came up . [Mid-1800s]

2. Rise (from a lower place to a higher one) as in We'll leave as soon as the sun comes up . [9th century]

3. Also, come up to . Approach, come near, as in He came up and said hello , or The dog came right up to Nora . [Early 1700s]

4. Also, come up to . Rise in status or value, be equal to, as in His paintings will never come up to his teacher's , or This officer came up through the ranks . [c. 1600] A variant is , used for someone who has risen in rank, wealth, or status; for example, He has really come up in the world—he now owns a yacht , or I could see at once that she was a woman who would rise in the world . Also see the subsequent idioms beginning with come up .

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Example Sentences

In the case of the title track, he’s come up with a melody for the poem and a vocal attack that impressively splits the difference between the spoken and the sung.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 2, 2026

To come up with some names, Barron’s screened the fund’s holdings for consumer staples and utilities stocks that are expected to be profitable in 2026 and boast dividend yields of 3%.

From Barron's • Apr. 1, 2026

A lower-income household paying for a year at a public university, for example, “still has to come up with $15,000. That’s a loss for them. It’s just less than it used to be,” he said.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 1, 2026

"When I've had my braids when I was younger, people would come up to me all the time and ask and I'd be writing the phone numbers down."

From BBC • Apr. 1, 2026

“Besides,” said Janie, “who says you get to name him? I’ll bet I could come up with a way better name than Stripy.”

From "A Boy Called Bat" by Elana K. Arnold

Related Words

• arise
• crop up
• occur
• rise
• turn up