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

Students who want to go "up the scale" will be allowed, Burke said, for example, if a student finishes a bachelor's degree and then wants to complete a masters.

From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026

As prices broadly go up, your payment can, over time, feel like less of a burden.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026

Nobody else wants to go up to the orchards in Oregon and pick the fruit.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026

Those low-income households that began renting in 1984 and then bought a house saw their wealth go up on average compared with the low-income households that remained renters.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026

“I think I’ll go up to bed now,” I told my mother.

From Full of Beans by Jennifer L. Holm

Related Words

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