come about

verb

came about; come about; coming about; comes about
Synonyms of come aboutnext

intransitive verb

1
: happen
2
: to change direction
the wind has come about into the north
3
: to shift to a new tack

Synonyms of come about

Relevance
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Examples of come about in a Sentence

how did all this come about?
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
That’s partly because of the contingencies of how a book review comes about. — Lola Seaton, The New York Review of Books, 17 Oct. 2026 Notably, the new action comes about a month after UMG had sued DistroKid in September, claiming the company has helped empower bad actors to upload AI slop songs at mass scale, diluting the royalty pool for genuine artists. — Ethan Millman, HollywoodReporter, 16 Oct. 2026 The eatery came about as a result of an expansion of Tacos 34, a pop-up taco vendor in Sacramento. — Emma Hall, Sacbee.com, 16 Oct. 2026 We were inspired from how many great discoveries that went on to revolutionize science and medicine came about from looking around in nature and finding these odd things—PCR [polymerase chain reaction] tests, for example, or CRISPR. — Adam Kovac, Scientific American, 14 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for come about

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of come about was in the 14th century

Rhymes for come about

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Browse Nearby Words

come
come about
come a cropper
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Cite this Entry

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

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Kids Definition

come about

verb
1
: happen sense 2
2
: to change direction
the wind has come about into the north
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