comeback
a return to a former higher rank, popularity, position, prosperity, etc.: The ex-champion kept trying to make a comeback.
a clever or effective retort; rejoinder; riposte: That was a great comeback the comedian made to the hecklers.
Informal. a basis or cause of complaint: If you insist on buying these pointed shoes, you'll have no comeback when your toes start to hurt.
Origin of comeback
1Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use comeback in a sentence
Obviously, not all the original cast can come back or even have the desire.
Juiciest ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Rumors (and Some Debunked Ones) | Rich Goldstein | January 3, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTDavid Prowse, the actor who portrayed Darth Vader, wished to come back but had to turn down the role because of ill health.
Juiciest ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Rumors (and Some Debunked Ones) | Rich Goldstein | January 3, 2015 | THE DAILY BEAST“She said, ‘Bill wants us to come back over for dinner again,’” Hogue recalled.
Almost every fictional hero of my childhood has come back to life on the big screen in recent years.
Can Tarzan of the Apes Survive in a Post-Colonial World? | Ted Gioia | November 23, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTWe get to leave, come back to the States, and they have to stay.
‘Argo’ in the Congo: The Ghosts of the Stanleyville Hostage Crisis | Nina Strochlic | November 23, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Long before that, however, the sun had come back to gladden the Polar regions, and break up the reign of ancient night.
The Giant of the North | R.M. BallantyneBut since this has little or nothing to do with the story, I pass by my mining adventures and come back to the hotel.
Uncanny Tales | VariousIn two or three minutes Rosemary appeared once more, without her hat and coat, to say that "Angel" had not yet come back.
Rosemary in Search of a Father | C. N. WilliamsonShouting to his two plucky assistants to come back, Frank called out to Chumru and bade him join them.
The Red Year | Louis TracyI don't know why, unless he had some money they had overlooked and was afraid they might come back for another try at him.
Raw Gold | Bertrand W. Sinclair
British Dictionary definitions for comeback
/ (ˈkʌmˌbæk) /
a return to a former position, status, etc
a return or response, esp recriminatory
a quick reply; retort
to return
to become fashionable again
to reply after a period of consideration: I'll come back to you on that next week
US and Canadian to argue back; retort
come back to someone (of something forgotten) to return to someone's memory
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Other Idioms and Phrases with comeback
Return to or regain past success or popularity, as in It's hard to come back from two sets down and win the match, or Long hemlines are coming back this fall. [Early 1900s]
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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