comeback

1 of 2

noun

come·​back ˈkəm-ˌbak How to pronounce comeback (audio)
1
a
: a sharp or witty reply : retort
b
: a cause for complaint
2
: a return to a former position or condition (as of success or prosperity) : recovery, revival
… staging his ultimate comeback from self-imposed exile in Belgium.Howard Mandel
These days, the cocktail—the true cocktail—is said to be making a comeback.Frank H. Prial

come back

2 of 2

verb

came back; come back; coming back; comes back

intransitive verb

1
: to return to life or vitality
2
: to return to memory
it's all coming back to me now
3
: reply, retort
when questioned, he came back with a vehement denial
4
a
: to regain a former favorable condition or position
b
: to recover from a deficit in a contest or competition
… it was the first time in NHL history that a team was down by three goals inside the final five minutes and came back to win a game.Mike Harrington

Examples of comeback in a Sentence

Noun The species was nearly extinct but is now making a comeback. Short skirts were out of fashion for many years, but now they're making a comeback. The team was trailing after the first half, but they made a comeback and won in the second half. The team mounted a comeback in the second half of the season. Verb she's slowly coming back after being in a coma the American bald eagle was once nearly extinct but has come back strong
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Flip phones are making a comeback, and Apple could be jumping on the bandwagon. Abby Montanez, Robb Report, 22 May 2024 Keep trying to bypass surgery and hope his ailing arm might eventually heal, or undergo Tommy John surgery and attempt a comeback sometime next summer. Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 21 May 2024 Palomar got a home run from sophomore Ian Halverson to lead off the ninth, but its comeback ultimately fell shorts. Rick Hoff, San Diego Union-Tribune, 19 May 2024 Bobrovsky locked things down from there, stopping 22 of 23 shots overall, giving the Panthers the opportunity to mount their comeback and clinch the series. Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 18 May 2024 If there was a comeback player of the year award in the NHL, Drouin would be a top contender. Corey Masisak, The Denver Post, 18 May 2024 Moreau couldn’t complete the comeback, though, with Monta Vista’s savvy front line, willing passers and skilled reserves such as Joaquin Garcia closing out the final set. Joseph Dycus, The Mercury News, 16 May 2024 In that matchup, the Terps let a 7-2 advantage at halftime slip away, and Florida used that comeback to begin its current 20-game run after a 0-2 start. Edward Lee, Baltimore Sun, 16 May 2024 After a partial comeback in 2023, Chinese cinema is returning to this year’s 77th Cannes Film Festival in a major way. Patrick Brzeski, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 May 2024
Verb
Doctors ran a battery of tests, and one for Lyme came back positive, confirming Gray's initial hunch from decades earlier. TIME, 16 May 2024 Fans will watch live games on YouTube on Sunday, then come back and watch clips through its video library or commentary from its creators, Oestlien said. Wendy Lee, Los Angeles Times, 16 May 2024 Other day trader darlings, such as AMC and Blackberry, also came back to life this week riding a resurgence in meme stocks that was encouraged by members of Reddit’s WallStreetBets forum. Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 15 May 2024 Money coming back into the system is really healthy and gives me optimism. Mia Galuppo, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 May 2024 Every time someone comes back, the Giants seem to lose two more. Dieter Kurtenbach, The Mercury News, 13 May 2024 Superhero films actually kept people in the cinemas during that transition and now people are coming back. Zack Sharf, Variety, 13 May 2024 The new regulations, which must be drafted and come back for another council vote, would buy the city time to develop rules requiring that 100% affordable housing projects provide at least some units for families that are defined as very low-income, said Hernandez spokesperson Chelsea Lucktenberg. David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times, 2 May 2024 Signs of bird flu have also made its way into the retail dairy supply, with as many as one in five samples of milk coming back positive in a nationwide Food and Drug Administration survey. Alexander Tin, CBS News, 1 May 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'comeback.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1889, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1860, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Time Traveler
The first known use of comeback was in 1860

Dictionary Entries Near comeback

come away from

comeback

come back

Cite this Entry

“Comeback.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/comeback. Accessed 28 May. 2024.

Kids Definition

comeback

noun
come·​back ˈkəm-ˌbak How to pronounce comeback (audio)
1
2
: a return to a former position or condition (as of health, power, popularity, or prosperity) : recovery

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