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.
“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
When investors expect those rates to go up, the relative appeal of Treasurys diminishes—causing their prices to fall, and their yields rise to a competitive level again.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
The sector's crisis is amplified by "a heavy debt-fuelled structure and the belief that real estate prices will always go up", said Gary Ng, senior Asia Pacific economist at Natixis.
From Barron's ● Jul. 15, 2026
Schulman added that “we have seen this movie before with other high-profile listings” that left little room for the stock to go up.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026
I go up to the front of the team in the darkness and drag them around, realizing we are lost.
From "Woodsong" by Gary Paulsen
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.
