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• get-up
  get-up

  noun

  getup.
• get up
  get up

  verb

  to wake and rise from one's bed or cause to wake and rise from bed

get-up

American  

[get-uhp] / ˈgɛtˌʌp /

noun

1. getup.

2. get-up-and-go.

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get up British  

verb

1. to wake and rise from one's bed or cause to wake and rise from bed

2. (intr) to rise to one's feet; stand up

3. (also preposition) to ascend or cause to ascend

   the old van couldn't get up the hill

4. to mount or help to mount (a bicycle, horse, etc)

5. to increase or cause to increase in strength

   the wind got up at noon

6. informal (tr) to dress (oneself) in a particular way, esp showily or elaborately

7. informal (tr) to devise or create

   to get up an entertainment for Christmas

8. informal (tr) to study or improve one's knowledge of

   I must get up my history

9. informal to be involved in

   he's always getting up to mischief

10. informal (intr) to win, esp in a sporting event

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noun

1. informal a costume or outfit, esp one that is striking or bizarre

2. informal the arrangement or production of a book, etc

get up Idioms  

1. Arise from bed; also, sit or stand up. For example, Once I get up and have coffee, I'm ready to work . One of Irving Berlin's earliest hit songs was “Oh! How I hate to Get Up in the Morning” (1918). [Mid-1300s]

2. Ascend, mount, as in I hate to get up on a ladder . [First half of 1500s]

3. Create or organize, as in She got up the petition against zoning . [Late 1500s]

4. Dress or adorn, as in She plans to get herself up in a bizarre outfit . This usage is most often put in the form of the past participle ( got up ), as in The wedding albums were got up with ruffles and lace . [Late 1700s]

5. Draw on, create in oneself, as in I finally got up the nerve to quit , or Joe got up his courage and told the boss he was leaving . [Early 1800s] Also see get someone's back up ; also see the subsequent idioms beginning with get up .

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Example Sentences

On Sunday, a passenger might glance at the driver in the rear view mirror and ask the usual: "Good weekend, mate? Get up to much?"

From BBC • Feb. 21, 2026

Get up close and observe the material’s surface.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 30, 2026

Get up to date on the latest immigration news, policy changes and other developments out of LA, California, and around the world.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 4, 2025

Get up a cup of hot cocoa and bundle up under a blanket, because there’s not much relief in sight from Seattle’s extremely cold temperatures.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 14, 2024

“Rest? And pay another twenty dollars for another day? Get up out that bed. I called up Claude. He’s coming down here and pay your bill.”

From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole

Related Words

• awake
• awaken
• climb
• stand