1
general::
Phrase(s): come on (duty)
to begin to work at one’s scheduled time. • When did you come on duty tonight? • What time does she come on?, Phrase(s): come on
1. Stop it!; Stop doing that. (Usually Come on!) • Mary: Are you really going to sell your new car? Sally: Come on! How dumb do you think I am? 2. please oblige me. • Mother: Sorry. You can’t go! Bill: Come on, let me go to the picnic! • "Come on," whined Jimmy, "I want some more!" 3. to hurry up; to follow someone. • If you don’t come on, we’ll miss the train. 4. [for electricity or some other device] to start operating. • After a while, the lights came on again. • I hope the heat comes on soon. 5. to walk out and appear on stage. • You are to come on when you hear your cue. 6. Fig. [for a pain] to begin hurting; [for a disease] to attack someone. • The pain began to come on again, and Sally had to lie down. 7. [for a program] to be broadcast on radio or television. • The news didn’t come on until an hour later., Phrase(s): come on (to someone)
Sl. to attempt to interest someone romantically or sexually. • He was trying to come on to me, but I found him unappealing., Phrase(s): come on
somehow to advance in some fashion, manner, rate, or degree. • Darkness comes on early these days. • The illness comes on by degrees., Phrase(s): come (up)on someone or something
to find or happen on someone or something. (See also happen (up)on someone or something.) • I came upon Walter while I was in the bookstore. • I came on this little store near Maple Street that has everything we need., Phrase(s): come on(to) someone or something
to find someone or something by accident; to happen onto someone or something. • When I was out on my walk, I came on a little shop that sells leather goods. • I came onto an old friend of yours downtown today.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs
2
general::
1. Move forward, progress, develop. For example, We stopped as soon as darkness began to come on. [Early 1600s] 2. Hurry up, as in Come on now, it's getting late. This imperative to urge someone forward has been so used since about 1450. 3. Also, come upon. Meet or find unexpectedly, as in We came on him while walking down the street, or I came upon an old friend in the bookstore today. [Second half of 1700s] 4. Make a stage entrance, as in After the next cue she comes on from the right. [Early 1800s] 5. Please oblige me, as in Come on, that's no excuse for leaving, or Come on, you'll really like this restaurant. [Colloquial; first half of 1900s] 6. Convey a specific personal image, as in He comes on like a go-getter but he's really rather timid. [Slang; c. 1940] 7. Also, come on strong. Behave or speak in an aggressive way, as in Take it easy; you're coming on awfully strong. [c. 1940] 8. Also, come on to. Make sexual advances, as in She reported her boss for coming on to her. This usage probably was derived from the earlier use of the noun come-on for a sexual advance. [Slang; 1950s]
American Heritage Idioms