come across somebody
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Also seen as: come across something
Meaning · English
Meet or encounter someone by chance
Literally: move across someone
Register: neutral
Examples
I came across my old friend at the party
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Everyday learner phrase (CEFR B2); level cross-referenced from published learner lists. Definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-08-01; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “come across somebody” mean?
Meet or encounter someone by chance Literally: move across someone
Is “come across somebody” formal or informal?
come across somebody is generally neutral.