come to time

verb

To come forward in order to resume the contest when the interval allowed for rest is over and time is called.

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Meanings

verbcome to time (third-person singular simple present comes to time, present participle coming to time, simple past came to time, past participle come to time)

present singular third person comes to time · participle present coming to time · past came to time

  1. datedTo come forward in order to resume the contest when the interval allowed for rest is over and time is called.

    We fights for ten minutes or so, and then I hits him a round blow on the ear, and he falls down on the hard, and couldn't come to time. No wonder, poor fellow ! for he had gone to eternity.

    1834, Frederick Marryat, Jacob Faithful
  2. idiomaticTo maintain an appointment; to meet expectations.

Origin

The expression was used in prizefighting (boxing).

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

come to time. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/come%20to%20time

MLA

“come to time.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/come%20to%20time. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “come to time,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/come%20to%20time.

Source: come to time on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.