come over

See also: comeover, and come-over

English

Verb

come over (third-person singular simple present comes over, present participle coming over, simple past came over, past participle come over)

1. (transitive) To affect in a sudden, unprecedented or surprising manner; to overwhelm a person's ordinarily contrary impulse.

   I apologise for my behaviour last night. I don't know what came over me.

   • [1898], J[ohn] Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLC:

     It was then that a great pity came over me for this thin shadow of man; thinking rather what a fine, tall gentleman Colonel Mohune had once been, and a good soldier no doubt besides, than that he had wasted a noble estate and played traitor to the king.

2. (informal) To seem; to come to express a feeling or state.

   Synonyms: come across, come off

   That's why he's come over strange.

3. (intransitive) To change one's position or location, especially to someone's place of residence or to an opposing side in competition or conflict.

   Synonyms: come by; drop by, stop by (go to someone's residence)

   Synonym: come across (join the opposing side)

   come over for coffee and cake

   come over to the dark side

   He'll come over if we guarantee him a seat on the board.

   • 1918, Willa Sibert Cather, My Ántonia:

     "I think, Emmaline," he concluded, "I will ask Ántonia to come over and help you in the kitchen. She will be glad to earn something, and it will be a good time to end misunderstandings. I may as well ride over this morning and make arrangements. Do you want to go with me, Jim?" His tone told me that he had already decided for me.

4. (dated, slang, transitive) To deceive or get the better of; overreach.
   • 1861, Elizabeth Gaskell, The Grey Woman:

     Some fine day we may have the country raised, and ​the gendarmes down upon us from Strasburg, and all owing to your pretty doll, with her cunning ways of coming over you.

Derived terms

• comeover (noun)

Translations

to get to a place

• Dutch: langskomen (nl)
• Esperanto: aliri (eo)
• Estonian: üle tulema
• French: venir (fr)
• Greek: έρχομαι (el) (érchomai)

  Ancient Greek: ἔρχομαι (érkhomai)

• Japanese: 遣って来る (ja) (yatte kuru)
• Lithuanian: užeiti
• Russian: подскочить (ru) impf (podskočitʹ), подъехать (ru) pf (podʺjexatʹ)

Anagrams

• overcome