Phrasal verb
come by
Definition
phrasal verb. to find or get something that is hard to find or rare.
phrasal verb. to obtain or acquire something, especially when the item is scarce or the process requires effort or chance.
Examples
“Good jobs are hard to come by these days.”
“How did you come by such a rare first edition of that book?”
“In a market saturated with cheap imitations, authentic handcrafted furniture is increasingly difficult to come by for the average consumer.”
Examples
simple
“Good jobs are hard to come by these days.”
contextual
“How did you come by such a rare first edition of that book?”
complex
“In a market saturated with cheap imitations, authentic handcrafted furniture is increasingly difficult to come by for the average consumer.”
Usage
usually used in the passive-like 'hard to come by' or as a transitive verb meaning 'to obtain'.
Teaching tip
focus on the 'rarity' aspect; we don't 'come by' milk at the supermarket, but we might 'come by' a vintage watch at a flea market.
Pitfall
Where did you come by to that money?
Where did you come by that money?
the verb is transitive and takes a direct object without the preposition 'to'.
Phrasal verb
Particles
by
Separability
inseparable
Pattern
come + by + object
Synonyms
Antonyms
Grammar
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/come-by