come on

interjection · phrasal verb · come-on noun

Phrasal verbcomes on, coming on, came on, come on

21 meanings of come on

1
impatienceinterjection
Used to express frustration, exasperation, or impatience, or to urge someone to hurry up.
Come on, the light has been green for ten seconds.
Oh, come on, you promised you'd have this finished by Friday.
2
cheeringinterjection
Shouted or said to cheer someone on, or to show support and urge them to keep going.
Come on, Lions! Hold them for one more minute!
Come on, don't give up now, you're nearly at the top.
3
disbeliefinterjection
Used to express disbelief at what someone has just said or claimed.
Come on, nobody pays that much for a sandwich.
You expect me to think it was an accident? Come on.
Similarnonsense, rubbish, no, malarkey, pshaw
Note
In casual writing the disbelieving one is often spelled c'mon, and its neighbors are come off it, get out of here and no way. The words are the same as the cheer and the hurry-up; only the tone and the moment tell them apart, and here it greets a claim the speaker refuses to swallow.
4
follow meinterjection
Used to ask or tell someone to come along with you, to join you in going somewhere.
Grab your coat and come on, the cab is waiting.
Come on, I want to show you the view from the roof.
5
start (machines)phrasal verbintransitive
Of an electric or electronic device, especially a light, to become switched on and start working.
The dashboard warning lights come on for a second when you start the car.
After the update, the laptop would not come on at all.
Similarstart (entry)
Note
The device is the subject: the light came on, the screen came on. When the person who works the switch is the subject, English says turn on instead, as in she turned the light on, so the two verbs describe the same moment from opposite sides.
6
broadcastphrasal verbtransitive or intransitive
Of a program, song, or other broadcast, to begin playing, or to be broadcast through a radio, television, or other device.
A song I had not heard in years came on the radio.
The news comes on at six, right after the game.
Similarstart (entry), begin, air, play
7
flirt withphrasal verbidiomaticintransitive
To show sexual or romantic interest in someone, usually through what one says and sometimes through actions.
Some guy came on to her at the bar, so she moved to another table.
Don't come on to people at work; it never ends well.
Similarproposition
Note
Its partner is to: you come on to someone. In Earth Girls Are Easy (1988) the question "Are you like coming on to me? Is this a pass?" sets it beside its near-synonym, and hit on says the same. Pulp's "Babies" (1992) drops the to in a line about a girl named Neve, leaving the listener to supply the target. The remark itself is a come-on.
8
romantic hintnoun · come-oncolloquialcountable
A remark, or sometimes an action, that signals sexual or romantic interest in someone.
He insisted the lunch invitation was business, not a come-on.
After a few drinks the compliments turned into open come-ons.
Similaradvance, pass, overture
Note
The noun for what someone does when coming on to you, a remark or a move. People often deny one in advance, as Harry does in Nora Ephron's When Harry Met Sally... (1989): "this is not a come-on in any way, shape or form." In Paul Simon's "The Boxer" (1969), the job-seeker is given only this kind of empty lure, never a real offer.
9
welcome inphrasal verbcolloquialintransitive
A friendlier, more urging way of saying come, used before in, over, up, round, by, or down to stress the movement.
Come on up, the elevator is on the left.
She told us to come on down whenever we liked.
Note
The on adds no direction of its own; the next word does that: come on in, come on over, come on up, come on round. What on brings is warmth and a little push, so the phrase sounds like an invitation rather than an order. Without the following in or over, the same two words become the call to come along.
10
drug effectsphrasal verbslangtransitive or intransitive
To begin to feel a drug's effects, or, of the drug, to start producing them.
About forty minutes in, the mushrooms began to come on.
The edible came on her so hard she had to lie down.
Note
Drug talk uses it for the first wave of an effect: the coke came on me quickly. Either the drug or the person who took it can be the subject, since the sense covers both feeling the effects and the drug starting to cause them; with the drug as subject, the person can follow with on.

11
improvephrasal verbintransitive
To progress or develop, especially toward a finished or better state.
The young striker has come on enormously this season.
How is the kitchen coming on? Is the plumbing finished?
Similarprogress, develop, improve
Oppositeregress, deteriorate
Note
It is most at home in the progressive with a word of approval: the new garden is coming on nicely. D. H. Lawrence stretches it to a whole household in Sons and Lovers (1913), where "the family was coming on," rising in manners and standing, while Morel alone "lapsed slowly." Come along does much the same work.
12
dareinterjection
Used as a challenge or in defiance, daring an opponent to approach and come at you.
She squared up to the bigger kid and said, "Come on, I dare you."
He spread his arms wide and roared, "Come on! Take your best shot!"
Note
The dare is an old one: in John Maddison Morton's Box and Cox (1847), Box asks "can you fight?" and, told no, answers "Then come on." Today it is the call of someone squaring up, often followed by a taunt such as I'm not afraid of you, and on keeps its sense of advancing toward the speaker.
13
enter stagephrasal verbintransitive
To make one's entrance onto the stage or into a performance.
Actors who come on before their cue throw the whole scene off.
She was coming on for her final speech when the fire alarm went off.
Similarenter
Oppositeexit
14
sports substitutephrasal verbintransitive
Of a substitute in a team sport, to enter the field of play, replacing a teammate.
Substitutes who come on late in the game rarely get a chance to settle.
The rookie came on for the veteran midway through the third quarter and changed the pace of the game.
Note
In match reports this is the substitute's verb: Brett Emerton came on for Dunn; Michael Obafemi came on with five minutes remaining. The player replaced is named with for, and the minute is often given. Starters never come on, since they are already on the field, and a player taken out comes off.
15
sales tricknoun · come-oncolloquialcountable
Something designed to attract people's interest, such as an advertising lure.
The low introductory rate is a come-on; the real price kicks in after three months.
Casinos use free drinks and cheap buffets as come-ons for gamblers.
Similarlure, enticement, inducement, hook
Note
A noun made from come on to, and written with a hyphen where the verb stays two words. Its first known use is in Edward W. Townsend's Near A Whole City Full (1897), in street talk about steering a come-on from New Jersey. Today it is usually dismissive: free offers are just come-ons to get you in the store.
16
join (job)phrasal verbslangtransitive
To join a job, a hobby, or some other established pursuit.
He came on in 2015, when the company had only twelve employees.
Writers who come on the show midseason have to learn the characters fast.
Similarjoin, start (entry)
Oppositeleave
Note
Workplace slang for starting somewhere, most often a job: he came on at the same time as me. The workplace usually goes unsaid, since the people talking share it, and when it is named it can follow directly, as in came on the project. The same words serve for a club or hobby a person takes up.
17
phrasal verbtransitive
Used in its literal sense, to move onto something or onward.
Hikers who come on the trail after dark should carry a flashlight.
The deer came on the road just ahead of us and froze in the headlights.
18
behavephrasal verbslang
To behave or present oneself in a particular way, giving others a certain impression.
The new manager came on strong in his first week, and the staff pushed back.
Salespeople who come on like old friends the minute they meet you usually want something.
Note
The manner follows the verb directly, and come on strong is the usual pairing in this spoken slang. It describes the impression a person gives, pushy or overbearing, rather than what they are. When the strength is romantic, it shades into the flirting sense.
19
periodphrasal verbcolloquialidiomaticUKintransitive
To get one's period, that is, to begin menstruating.
I came on this morning, so I'll skip the swim and sit in the café.
Most of us come on roughly once a month, but the timing can shift with stress or travel.
Note
British colloquial speech for the start of a period, and it stands alone, with nothing after it: I've just come on, she came on early. Jenny Diski, writing in the London Review of Books in 2009, speaks of sending your man to the shop "if you came on suddenly." The two words never name what has begun; the setting carries the meaning.
20
findphrasal verbtransitive
To encounter or discover someone or something, typically without having looked for it.
Walking the dog at dawn, she came on a group of deer grazing by the fence.
Readers who browse the shelves often come on books they would never have searched for.
Similarencounter, discover, find
Note
A near twin of come upon and come across, with what is found following directly: turning the corner, I came on Julia by the riverbank. Put to between on and the person and the meaning changes entirely to the flirting sense, so the bare construction matters.
21
noun · come-onslangcountable
In the theater, a bad actor with little talent beyond walking onto the stage.
She was a come-on of the old school: a lovely entrance, and nothing after it.
Touring companies in those days padded their casts with come-ons hired for their looks.
Note
The insult belongs to the theater, and it is a precise one: the performer can manage the walk onto the stage and little else, so that one act becomes the name. Written come-on, with the hyphen the noun takes, it has nothing to do with the advertising lure that shares the spelling.

Practice

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Origin

Formed from the verb phrase come on to. It is first recorded around 1897, in the writings of Edward W. Townsend.