come across

1. 1.

   find unexpectedly

   “the archeologists chanced upon an old tomb”

   “she struck a goldmine”

   “The hikers finally struck the main path to the lake”

   Synonymsfall uponstrikecome uponlight uponchance uponchance onhappen uponattaindiscover

   Broaderfind
2. 2.

   be perceived in a certain way; make a certain impression

   Broaderlook
3. 3.

   come together

   “I'll probably see you at the meeting”

   “How nice to see you again!”

   Synonymsmeetrun intoencounterrun acrosssee

   Narrowerintersect
4. 4.

   communicate the intended meaning or impression

   “He came across very clearly”

   Synonymscome over

   Broadercommunicate
5. 5.

   be received or understood

   Synonymsresonate

   Narrowerstrike a chord

Questions about come across

What does come across mean?

come across means "find unexpectedly". That is the primary sense; the word has 5 in total, listed in full on this page.

What is another word for come across?

Close synonyms include fall upon, strike, come upon, light upon, chance upon. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is come across a common word?

come across is banded "Familiar" — widely understood, used when the subject calls for it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.