go up

British  

verb

1. (also preposition) to move or lead to or as if to a higher place or level; rise; increase

   prices are always going up

   the curtain goes up at eight o'clock

   new buildings are going up all around us

2. to be destroyed

   the house went up in flames

3. to go or return (to college or university) at the beginning of a term or academic year

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go up Idioms  

1. Be put up, as in New buildings are going up all over town .

2. Rise; increase. For example, His temperature is going up at an alarming rate , or The costs of construction are going up all the time . [Late 1800s]

3. Also, be gone up . Be destroyed, ruined, done for; also, die, be killed. For example, If we're not back in a week, you'll know we've gone up , or In spite of our efforts, the plans for a new library are gone up . [ Slang ; mid-1800s]

4. Forget one's lines on the stage or make a mistake in performing music. For example, Don't worry, you know your part and you won't go up , or He went up in the last movement of the sonata . [ Slang ; 1960s] Also see the subsequent idioms beginning with go up .

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Example Sentences

Wall Street is cautious whether the stock could further go up.

From Barron's • May 6, 2026

Much like Wintour, Bolton and so many working in media, Miranda and her cohorts go up against a handful of billionaires who have the power to decide Runway’s fate.

From Salon • May 6, 2026

Rates go up sharply once people hit their 50s and 60s.

From MarketWatch • May 6, 2026

Donna Jones, 58, from Swansea, said "food prices, energy prices.... they just go up and up, but incomes don't".

From BBC • May 5, 2026

But I didn’t mean for the whole world to go up in flames.

From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz

Related Words

• accelerate
• advance
• ascend
• build
• climb
• double
• expand
• improve
• lift
• move up
• multiply
• pick up
• raise
• soar
• swell