think things over. 2. n. a letdown; a dis-
appointment. (Usually comedown.)
The loss of the race was a real comedown
for Willard. It’s hard to face a comedown
like that. 3. in. to begin to recover from
the effects of alcohol or drug intoxica-
tion. She came down slow, which was
good. It was hard to get her to come
down.come down hardin. to come out of a drug
use session badly. (Drugs.) Mike came
down hard, and it took them a long time
to calm him down. Some kids who come
down hard will need treatment, but none
of them get it unless they look like they are
bad off.
come down hard on someonein.to
scold someone; to punish someone se-
verely. Joe’s parents came down hard on
him when they learned he had been sus-
pended from school. The judge came
down hard on the crooks.
come-hither look[k@m”hID# lUk] n. an al-
luring or seductive look or glance, usu-
ally done by a woman. She blinked her
bedroom eyes and gave him a come-hither
look. She had mastered the come-hither
look, but was not ready for the next part.
Come off it! 1. and Get off it! exclam.
Stop acting arrogantly! Oh, you’re just
one of us. Come off it! Come off it, Tiff.
You’re not the Queen of England. 2.
exclam. Give up your incorrect point of
view! Come off it! You’re wrong, and
you know it. You are arguing from a
foolish position. You’re dead wrong. Get
off it!
come on 1. n. a lure; bait. (Usually come-
on.) Forty people responded to the
come-on published in the Sunday paper.
It’s just a come on. Nobody is giving away
a decent color TV just for listening to a
sales pitch. 2. n. an invitation; a sexual in-
vitation. (Usually come-on.) She
stared at him with her bedroom eyes, giv-
ing him that age-old come-on. Who
could resist a come-on like that? 3. in. to
begin to perform well. In the second
scene, the entire cast came on, and the au-
dience loved it. The singer came on im-
mediately. We knew we had a star. 4. in.
to feel the effects of a drug; for a drug to
take effect. (Drugs.) After what seemed
a long time, I began to come on to the stuff.
When I came on, I decided I didn’t like
it, but then it was too late. 5. exclam. You
are wrong! (Usually Come on!) Come
on! This is a good set of clubs! Come on!
Wasteful spending occurs at all levels of all
governments! Nobody is innocent!come on like gangbustersGo to come on
strong.come on strong and come on like gang-
bustersin. to seem aggressive; to im-
press people initially as very aggressive
and assertive. (See explanation at like
gangbusters.) She has a tendency to
come on strong, but she’s really a softie.
The new president comes on strong at first.come on to someone 1. in. to make ad-
vances to a person. He came on to her,
but she beat it outa there fast. She didn’t
even know he was coming on to her, till
they got to his place. 2. in. to try to get
someone to respond romantically or sex-
ually. She was just starting to come on
to me when her parents came home. 3. in.
to begin to become friendly. After a
few minutes, they began to come on to each
other. When the nervousness of meeting
a blind date passed, Sam and Mary began
to come on, and we could see it would be
a success.come out aheadin. to end up with a
profit; to end up with some benefit. I
never seem to come out ahead at the end
of the month. We’ll come out ahead in
the end. Just you wait.come out in the washin. to be dealt with
in the normal chain of events. (As if
someone were counseling someone who
had caused a clothing stain.) All of
these things will come out in the wash.
Whatever it is, it’ll come out in the wash.
Don’t worry.come out of the closetin. to appear pub-
licly as a homosexual. (The phrase has
many nonsexual metaphorical mean-
ings.) They say he came out of the closet
when he was 8 years old.come out of the closet