open up


verb(adverb)
  1. (intr) to start firing a gun or guns

  2. (intr) to speak freely or without restraint

  1. (intr) informal (of a motor vehicle) to accelerate

  2. (tr) to render accessible: the motorway opened up the remoter areas

  3. to make or become more exciting or lively: the game opened up after half-time

Words Nearby open up

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

How to use open up in a sentence

  • They still more soften the feelings and open up the sources of grief.

  • "I hae lost my contracts, sir," began Sanny, not knowing how else to open up the subject.

    The Underworld | James C. Welsh
  • This line would open up a country of boundless timber and mineral resources, and might well create many a fresh industry.

    Menotah | Ernest G. Henham
  • In a few minutes this side will open up and the spray can be inhaled through it freely back into the throat.

    The Treatment of Hay Fever | George Frederick Laidlaw
  • It's more than the Bar-O folks need, but there's no one else, unless I bring in sheep men and open up an old controversy.

    David Lannarck, Midget | George S. Harney

Other Idioms and Phrases with open up

open up

Spread out, unfold, as in A green valley opened up before us. [Early 1800s]

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.