bring up

British  

verb

1. to care for and train (a child); rear

   we had been brought up to go to church

2. to raise (a subject) for discussion; mention

3. to vomit (food)

4. (foll by against) to cause (a person) to face or confront

5. (foll by to) to cause (something) to be of a required standard

---

bring up Idioms  

1. Raise from childhood, rear. For example, Bringing up children is both difficult and rewarding . [Late 1400s]

2. Introduce into discussion, mention, as in Let's not bring up the cost right now . [Second half of 1800s]

3. Vomit, as in She still felt sick but couldn't bring up anything . This usage was first recorded in Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe (1719).

---

Example Sentences

The training reductions come as ICE plans to bring up more than 4,000 new Enforcement and Removal Operations officers this fiscal year, which ends in September.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 23, 2026

Retired Wallabies prop Slipper became the first Australian to bring up the 200-game milestone and he is close to passing the all-time record, held by former Crusaders and All Blacks prop Wyatt Crockett.

From Barron's • Feb. 22, 2026

Figures from the Met Office suggest that 1.5C of warming could bring up to 16% more winter rainfall to Aberdeen and 13% more in Aberdeenshire, compared with levels in the 1980s and 90s.

From BBC • Feb. 5, 2026

When I was 8, my parents divorced, and Mom had to bring up three children alone.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 27, 2026

So I warned her that she ought not to bring up my daddy anymore.

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan

Related Words

• allude to
• broach
• discuss
• introduce
• propose
• raise
• refer
• submit
• touch on