come forward

verb

came forward; come forward; coming forward; comes forward
: to make the effort required to provide information, make a claim, volunteer, etc.
No one has yet come forward to claim the reward.
Essex Police is now appealing for anyone with information or dash cam footage of the crash to come forward and help with their inquiries.—Alex Gidden
The young woman … had come forward after six months to accuse him of assault.—Jules De Cinque
also : to become publicly known
While the case was dropped the prosecutor says if substantial evidence came forward this case could go to a trial in the future … —Don Granese

Examples of come forward in a Sentence

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But last month, the company closed it permanently after CNN reported that two women had been rushed into emergency brain surgery six days apart in July and more than 100 injured riders came forward with brain injury claims. — Blake Ellis, CNN Money, 15 Oct. 2026 Karmy-Jones has stressed that none of the women who came forward know each other. — Jake Kanter, Deadline, 15 Oct. 2026 The goals and guardrails came forward after district leaders hosted more than 40 community listening sessions in recent months to garner feedback from families, teachers and other stakeholders. — Lina Ruiz, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 Oct. 2026 Later that month, five people came forward with complaints against Brand concerning his behavior as a radio host for the BBC from 2006 to 2008. — Alexandra Del Rosario, Los Angeles Times, 14 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for come forward

Rhymes for come forward

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Browse Nearby Words

come/follow close/hard/hot on the heels of (something)
come forward
come from
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Cite this Entry

“Come forward.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/come%20forward. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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Legal Definition

come forward

intransitive verb
come for·​ward
: to make a presentation of something to the court
—usually used with with
must come forward with materials to show that there is a genuine issue of fact—J. H. Friedenthal et al.
coming forward with the evidence
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