come into one's own

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come into one's own (third-person singular simple present comes into one's own, present participle coming into one's own, simple past came into one's own, past participle come into one's own)

  1. (idiomatic) To reach a stage of development or maturity where one has achieved strength and confidence, economic security, or respect and social acceptance.
    • 1903, Jack London, chapter 2, in Call of the Wild:
      And not only did he learn by experience, but instincts long dead became alive again. The domesticated generations fell from him. . . . [T]he old tricks . . . came to him without effort or discovery, as though they had been his always. . . . [T]he ancient song surged through him and he came into his own again.
    • 1913, Gene Stratton-Porter, chapter 7, in Laddie: A True Blue Story:
      Sally just swept along smiling at every one. . . . Sally looked just as if she had come into her own and was made for it; I never did see her look so pretty.
    • 1916, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “[On the Lago di Garda] The Dance”, in Twilight in Italy, London: Duckworth and Co. [], →OCLC, page 182:
      The eyes of the wood-cutter flash like actual possession. He seems now to have come into his own. With all his senses, he is dominant, sure.
    • 1919, Upton Sinclair, chapter 12, in Jimmie Higgins:
      Everywhere the people would come into their own, and war and tyranny would vanish like a hateful nightmare! Speaker after speaker got up to proclaim this glorious future.
    • 1992, Popular Mechanics, volume 169, number 11, page 18:
      Aerial photography was coming into its own, and flying shutterbugs pushed the envelope, striving to outsnap each other.
    • 2010 November 26, Gemlyn George, “Healthcare in Asia: A Roadmap for the Next Decade”, in Time:
      The subsequent decade played host to numerous stories of Asian nations coming into their own with robustly growing economies.
    • 2023 November 29, Paul Clifton, “West is best in the Highlands”, in RAIL, number 997, page 40:
      "We have some areas on the Mallaig line where you have no road access at all," Phil explains. "This is where the road-rail vehicles come into their own."

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