Definition

Verb (intransitive and transitive) 1. To regain consciousness: To wake up after being unconscious, asleep, or in a faint. 2. To reach a total or final state: To arrive at a particular condition, conclusion, or amount. 3. To enter one's mind: To be thought of or remembered by someone. 4. To concern or relate to: To be about a particular subject or person (often used with a possessive like 'my', 'your').

Usage and Examples

• Regaining consciousness:
  • After the accident, it took him several minutes to come to.
  • She fainted but came to when we splashed water on her face.
• Reaching a state or total:
  • The bill comes to exactly fifty dollars.
  • Their argument finally came to a peaceful resolution.
  • What is the world coming to? (An idiom expressing dismay about a situation.)
• Entering one's mind:
  • The solution came to me in a dream.
  • His name will come to me in a minute.
• Concerning or relating to:
  • When it comes to fixing cars, he's an expert.
  • As far as the budget comes to, we need to be careful.

Advanced Usage

• "Come to one's senses": To start thinking and behaving reasonably again after a period of foolishness or confusion.
  • He finally came to his senses and apologized.
• "Come to light": To become known or revealed.
  • New evidence has come to light in the investigation.
• "Come to a head": To reach a critical or climax point.
  • The tensions in the office came to a head during the meeting.

Variants and Related Words

• Come-to (noun, informal): A serious talking-to; a reprimand.
  • His father gave him a real come-to about his grades.
• Come (verb): The base form with many other meanings (to move toward, to arrive, to occur, etc.).

Synonyms

• Regain consciousness: Revive, wake up, come around.
• Reach a total: Amount to, add up to, total.
• Enter one's mind: Occur to, strike, hit, dawn on.
• Concern: Pertain to, relate to, refer to, involve.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Come to (with an object): To bring a ship to a stop.
  • The captain came the ship to just outside the harbor.
• Come around to: To eventually agree with or accept an idea after initial reluctance.
  • She finally came around to our way of thinking.

Related Idioms

• "Come to think of it...": Used to introduce something you have just remembered or realized.
  • Come to think of it, I did see her at the store yesterday.
• "Have it coming to (someone)": To deserve something bad that happens.
  • After all his lies, he had it coming to him.

Verb

1. return to consciousness
   • The patient came to quickly
   • She revived after the doctor gave her an injection
2. attain
   • The horse finally struck a pace
3. be relevant to
   • There were lots of questions referring to her talk
   • My remark pertained to your earlier comments
4. cause to experience suddenly
   • Panic struck me
   • An interesting idea hit her
   • A thought came to me
   • The thought struck terror in our minds
   • They were struck with fear