1. visit a place near one’s home: The groundskeeper asked me to come around to his place tomorrow night for a barbie. 2. find time for smth.; deal with smth. (when more important matters have been dealt with): I let him come around to telling me on his own time what is going on. go around to something—(also: go round to something ) = come around to something 1: I found Greg still in bed the next morn- ing when I went around to his place. come at something • go at something come at something—1. reach or find smth.: Put the food where the cat can’t come at it. 2. discover facts, causes, etc.: Our respect for their authority should not stand in the way of an effort to come at the truth. go at something —work hard at smth.: The students are really going at their studies now that the examinations are near. come away • go away come away—1. become detached from smth.: I pulled the rotten wood and it came away without difficulty. 2. leave a place or the company of others: We came away with the uneasy feeling that all was not well with their marriage. go away —1. = come away 2: His manner became so repellent that visitors went away moralizing on the absurdity of nou- veaux riches…. 2. (imper.) is used to rudely tell a person to be off: I’m tired of your constant complaints; go away and leave me in peace. 3. (of a newly-wed couple) leave the wedding guests and go on one’s honeymoon: Mary bought a very smart outfit to go away in. come back • go back come back—1. return to a place: I’m going away and I may never come back . 2. become fashionable again; be restored: Some people would be glad to see corporal punishment come back . 3. return to the memory: At first I could not remember why everything seemed so familiar; then it all came back . go back—1. = come back 1: You should never go back , they say, to the scene of your past romance. 2. (of troops) move backwards; retreat: Our army had to go back a few miles when the enemy won an advantage. 3. return to work after a strike: I’ll be glad when the post office workers go back , it’s very difficult not getting any letters. come back at someone • come back to someone come back at someone—reply to a person forcefully or an- grily: She came back at the speaker with some sharp ques- tions. come back to someone—1. return to a person’s memory: It is all coming back to me now. 2. reply to a person about smth. after a period of time: Can I come back to you on that one later? come before someone • go before someone come before someone—1. be higher in rank or greater in im- portance than another person: Members of the Royal Family come before lords and ladies. 2. (of an issue, suggestion, etc.) be presented (to an authoritative body) for consideration or judgement: Each case that comes before the committee is treated individually. 3. appear before a court of law, etc.: At your arraignment you will come before the judge and be in- formed of the charges against you. go before someone—1. live and die earlier than smb.: No- vember is the month of All Saints; a time when we especially remember in our prayers those who have gone before us. 2. = come before someone 2: This matter will go before a committee later this month and will be debated and a decision made. come between someone • go between someone come between someone—1. interfere in the affairs of two other people: It is never wise to come between a man and his wife. 2. prevent a person from doing smth.: The true artist lets nothing come between himself and his work. go between someone—act as a messenger between two people: She was given a bar of chocolate as her payment for going be - tween her sister and her sister’s boyfriend. come between something • go between something come between something—happen between two events: The third race comes between the high jump and the throwing competition. go between something—1. = come between something: The scene goes between the entrance of the murderer and the dis- covery of the body. 2. fit or pass into a position between two things: This picture goes nicely between the portraits of your father and mother. come by • go by come by—pay an informal visit: Why don’t you come by some afternoon and have coffee with me. go by—1. (of time) pass: Less than a day on the job goes by before the announcement comes that the workers are, once again, on strike. 2. (of an opportunity, etc.) pass without being taken: Often the chance goes by , or the trail followed proves false. 3. (of a fault, etc.) be ignored: I know you were late again this morning, but we’ll let that go by . come by something • go by something come by something—1. obtain smth. (that is hard to get): Jobs were not so easy to come by when I was a boy. 2. happen to get smth. by accident: How did you come by that scratch on your cheek? go by something—1. act according to smth.: If we go by in- structions, we must leave now. 2. base one’s judgment on smth.: You make a mistake if you go by appearances. come down • go down come down—1. collapse; fall: Several trees came down in last night’s storm. 2. (of a plane) be destroyed: Three of the enemy planes came down in the battle. 3. (of a plane) land: The plane came down safely in spite of the mist. 4. (of prices) be reduced: Prices are much more likely to go up than to come down . 5. (of wind) subside: We had very nice sailing for two hours then the wind came down and we had to start motor- sailing. 6. be inherited: This ring has come down in my family for two centuries. 7. become or be considered less valuable: John really came down in my opinion after that. 8. (U.S. coll.) happen; take place: When something like this comes down , I have to stop and think things over. go down —1. = come down 1: The man slipped on the ice and went down heavily. 2. (of the sun) set: As the sun went down the whole sky became suffused with a red glow. 3. (of a vessel) sink; drown: The ship struck a hidden reef and went down with all hands. 4. = come down 4: It’s a strange thing, but prices never go down . 5. = come down 5: If the wind doesn’t go down before three o’clock, we won’t be able to take off today. 6. be reduced in amount: If our stocks of food go down much further, we shall have a hard winter. 7. suffer a decline in quality or appearance: The neighborhood has gone down since those rough people moved in. 8. be recorded: Everything you say will go down in our records. 9. (of a speech, perform- ance, etc.) be accepted; be received: How did your speech go down ? 10. fail; be defeated: One of my best students went down in the examination! 11. (of food or medicine) be swal- lowed: The medicine went down without any trouble at all. 12. = come down 8: Something strange is going down around here. See also: go below / go under. – 77 – come down