come in

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come in

/ˌkʌm ˈɪn/ UK
[ˌkʰɐm ˈɪn] UK
/ˌkʌm ˈɪn/ US
[ˌkʰʌm ˈɪn] US

Where it comes from

From Middle English com in, imperative form of Middle English incomen (“to come in; enter”), from Old English incuman (“to come in; enter”), from Proto-Germanic *inkwemaną (“to come in; enter”), equivalent to come + in. Compare Dutch kom in (“come in”), singular imperative form of inkomen (“to come in; enter”), German einkommen (“to come in; enter”). See also income, incoming.

verb comes in · coming in · came in · come in

To enter. Please come in and look around.
To arrive. That flight just came in.
To become relevant, applicable, or useful. The third stage of the plan is where Team B comes in.
To become available. Blueberries will be coming in next month.
of a broadcast To have a strong enough signal to be able to be received well. Most of the neighbors get 14 channels, but only two of them come in well here.
To join or enter; to begin playing with a group. They started together, but the drummer came in late.
informal To enter a plan or group; to join in. Near-synonym: come across
Similar: come across
of a fugitive or a person in hiding To surrender; to turn oneself in. Near-synonym: come across
Similar: come across
intransitive To yield or surrender.
Similar: give in, give up
imperative, often To begin transmitting. This is Charlie 456 to base. Come in, base. Do you read me?
To function in the indicated manner. Four-wheel drive sure came in handy while the bridge was washed out.
To finish a race or similar competition in a particular position, such as first place, second place, or the like. The horse I had bet on came in fourth in the second race.
To finish a race or similar competition in first place. My horse came in in the first race.
of the tide To rise. The tide will come in in an hour.
Opposite: go out
To become fashionable. Orange blouses are coming in!
To fully develop. “Everyone says that you should wait, because your body doesn’t fully come in until you’re like 30, and I’m 20 years old, and why am I going to wait until I’m 30 to be snatched?” Catera Northup, an exotic dancer from Rhode Island, said.
intransitive To report to a workplace for a shift.
obsolete, of a copy To be correctly placed in preparation for printing.
of milk To become available, to begin to be produced.

Translations

Every language

verb to become relevant, applicable or useful

Deutsch	ins Spiel kommen
Русский	вступа́ть vstupátʹ, вступи́ть vstupítʹ

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Cite this

MLA

"come in." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/come%20in. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

come in. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/come%20in

Chicago

"come in." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/come%20in.

BibTeX

@misc{come_in_2026,
  title = {come in},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/come%20in},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}