come to

Related to come to: come together, come to terms

come to

1. To regain consciousness. After Lily fainted, we used smelling salts to get her to come to. The patient wasn't sure where he was when he came to in the emergency room.
2. To be called to one's mind. Give me a minute, that song will come to me. Why do the best ideas always come to me in the shower when I can't write them down?
3. To reach a conclusion of some kind, such as a decision. How did you come to this decision? Tell me your thought process.
4. To arrive at or visit a particular place. I came to this city because it's home to such beautiful architecture. I'll come to your house tonight and drop off your cake pan.
5. To reach a particular sum, as of a bill. Your total comes to $47.80.
6. To have a particular impact, result, or consequence. I hope my lies don't come to any consequence. That meeting nearly came to blows after the fiery testimony.
7. To be revealed or exposed. This meaning is often conveyed through the phrase "come to light." Discrepancies in the yearly budget report only came to light after the auditors began analyzing it. These incriminating documents came to light because of a whistleblower's tireless efforts.
8. To resume acting or feeling as one normally does. In this usage, a reflexive pronoun is used after "to." I was starting to get disoriented after being awake for 36 hours straight, but I came to myself after a good night's rest.
9. To anchor a ship. We'll come to in this port for now and regroup.
10. To position a ship with its bow in the wind. The ship needs to come to so that we can visit the port.
See also: come
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

come to something

to end up being helpful or significant. (See also amount to something; when it comes to something.) Do you think this work will come to anything? I don't think this will come to what we were promised.
See also: come

come to

to become conscious; to wake up. We threw a little cold water in his face, and he came to immediately.
See also: come

come to oneself

to begin acting and thinking like one's normal self. I began to come to myself and realize the wrong I had done. Please come to yourself and stop acting so strangely.
See also: come
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

come to

1. Recover consciousness, as in She fainted but quickly came to. [Second half of 1500s]
2. Arrive at, learn, as in I came to see that Tom had been right all along. [c. 1700]
3. See amount to, def. 2.
4. See when it comes to.
5. Stop a sailboat or other vessel by bringing the bow into the wind or dropping anchor, as in "The gale having gone over, we came to" (Richard Dana, Two Years Before the Mast, 1840). [Early 1700s] Also see the subsequent entries beginning with come to.
See also: come
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

come to

v.
1. To arrive at a place: We came to this city looking for a new life.
2. To come to the mind of someone; occur to someone: An interesting idea just came to me.
3. To have some sum as a total: The bill for dinner came to $40.
4. To arrive at some final state; amount to something: What will these strange events come to? So far, my miserable life has come to nothing.
5. To recover consciousness: The fainting victim came to.
6. Nautical To bring the bow into the wind: We should stop right here, so come to and we'll let the sails luff.
7. Nautical To anchor: We came to in the cove and spent the night there.
See also: come
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.

come to

light/hand
To be clearly revealed or disclosed: "A further problem ... came to light last summer as a result of post-flight inspections" (John Noble Wilford).
See also: come
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.
See also:
  • come to oneself
  • bring (someone or something) to
  • bring (someone or something) to life
  • bring somebody/something to life
  • bring to life
  • bring around
  • come (a)round
  • come around
  • come round
  • bring round
References in periodicals archive
Paul argues that we share Abraham's righteousness because we come to God in precisely the same way--through faith.
Third Sunday in Lent: February 27, 2005
I think the rich Western European countries, especially very rich Germany, have to do far more in sharing, and in trying to understand why there is misery in the world, why in fact very few--10 per cent--try to come to Western Europe, while the other 90 per cent go to the poorest countries, countries like Iran, India, Pakistan, and Africa, which take up most of the refugees."
Last words from Petra Kelly
While that may have been good for Abraham and Sarah, Jacob and Simon Peter, I have come to trust the name Preaching Helps as a faithful witness both to the gospel and to the power, promise, and privilege of preaching.
"900 Words": initial reflections of an emerging editor
This Greek word apocalypse means literally "uncovering" but has come to mean the "coming of the end." In Latin and English translations the word revelation is used, which has come to mean "revealed divine truth." Apocalypticism can mean imminent expectation of the end of the world or revelation of heavenly secrets.
Apocalypse now
My sister has fallen asleep on the floor and I wish my mother would come to get us.
Two views of my grandmother
How did the gay son, David, come to be so responsible, while his straight brother is the seemingly free spirit?
Our siblings, our secrets: they're often first to know we're gay, and their acceptance or rejection touches us to the core. What's the big deal about brothers and sisters?
Nobel's story highlights an increasingly common trend among gay and lesbian youth: Sexual orientation is not something they are just beginning to come to terms with in high school or in college.
Coming out early
One of the most important things I have come to understand is that until a person experiences discrimination herself, she cannot know what it is like.
COMING OUT AND INTO THE DEGENERES FAMILY