Word.ws English Dictionary

coming across

coming across is the present participle and gerund of come across.

Meaning of come across

Verb

come across (third-person singular simple present comes across, present participle coming across, simple past came across, past participle come across)

  1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see come, across.
    • He came across the street towards me.
  2. (figuratively) To change sides; to cross over to work for the opposition.
    • You argued well in court but your firm doesn't pay its lawyers well, so why don't you come across to ours?
    Synonyms:
    come over
  3. (idiomatic) To give an appearance or impression; to project a certain image; to seem or appear (to be some way).
    • How did she come across when you met with her?
    Synonyms:
    come off, come over
  4. (idiomatic, transitive) To find, usually by accident.
    • In the dark he came across an old box by accident.
  5. To produce what was desired; to come up with the goods.
    • Near-synonym: come through
    Synonyms:
    come through
  6. (idiomatic, intransitive) To give in and do what is wanted or expected; to acquiesce to something.
    • Near-synonym: come around
    Synonyms:
    come around

See all 8 meanings of come across

Questions about coming across

What is coming across the present participle and gerund of?
Coming across is the present participle and gerund of come across.

Words near coming across in the dictionary

  1. coming
  2. coming a cropper
  3. coming a gutser
  4. coming a long way
  5. coming about
  6. coming across
  7. coming across with
  8. coming after
  9. coming alive
  10. coming aloft
  11. coming along

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: coming across (page history and authors); come across (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “coming across.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/coming_across. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.