cheer on

Idioms

Encourage, as in The crowd was cheering on all the marathon runners. Originating in the 1400s simply as cheer, this usage was augmented by on in the early 1800s.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

cheer on

And while I was more than happy to cheer on my peers, I also wanted to win.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

Melvyn Moyes, who was in the city centre with his brother Ken to cheer on the team, described the atmosphere as "buzzing".

From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2026

Meta shares are getting a boost on Wednesday as investors cheer on the company’s latest artificial-intelligence push.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026

Green jerseys were seen all over Mexico as people set aside their differences to cheer on El Tri.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2026

He said in a lower voice, “And about half of them were right here in Stanleyville last week to cheer on their Tata Lumumba.”

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023