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

See Examples For:

go up

However, numbers go up and down over time, with more thefts recorded in 2015 than a decade later.

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026

Changing those factors can make the number go up.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026

Spotting a camera along the route her children walk to school gave her pause; seeing one go up in front of her community recreation center made her act.

From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026

I think that if you are still insisting that every A.I. business will go up on smoke, it’s time for an update.

From Slate ● Sep. 1, 2026

The only witches they couldn’t go up against were the Town Gran and Uncle.

From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega

Related Words

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