come and go

come and go (third-person singular simple present comes and goes, present participle coming and going, simple past came and went, past participle come and gone)

1. To alternately enter and exit, arrive and depart (either physically or figuratively)

   He comes and goes as he pleases.

   • 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, OCLC 246633669, PC, scene: Citadel:

     Shepard: This isn't a station; it's a city.
     Kaidan: There must be millions here. It can't be possible to track everyone coming and going.

2. To repeatedly appear and disappear; to be transient

   My headaches come and go, but the pain in my neck is constant.

   • 2012 April 22, Sam Sheringham, “Liverpool 0-1 West Brom”, in BBC Sport‎:

     Opportunities came and went as Kuyt's deflected shot from an angle cannoned back off the woodwork and Carroll twice fired over after right-wing crosses from Kuyt and Johnson picked him out.

• coming and going
• ebb and flow