go up
Britishverb
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(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
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to be destroyed
the house went up in flames
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to go or return (to college or university) at the beginning of a term or academic year
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Be put up, as in New buildings are going up all over town .
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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]
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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]
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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 .
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.
The stock market isn’t your rich uncle, and paper profits can go up in smoke at any moment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 2026
“I always go up to them and say, ‘You’re not here when it’s really noisy,’” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
UK household energy bills are also expected to go up after the latest increase in the price cap which took effect on 1 July, which could push UK inflation higher.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
“If a company reports good earnings and the stock doesn’t go up, it tells you everybody is in that trade,” said Stephanie Link, chief investment strategist and equity portfolio manager at Hightower Advisors.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 2026
If you go up or down two half steps from one note to another, then those notes are a whole step, or whole tone apart.
From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
