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Synonyms

grow up

British  

verb

  1. to reach maturity; become adult

  2. to come into existence; develop

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
grow up Idioms  

  1. Become an adult, as in Sam wants to be a policeman when he grows up . [First half of 1500s]

  2. Come into existence, arise, as in Similar social problems grew up in all the big cities . [Late 1500s]

  3. Become mature or sensible, as in It's time you grew up and faced the facts . This usage may also be in the form of an imperative (as in Don't bite your nails—grow up! ) [Mid-1900s]

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.

"When I grow up," she says, "I want to become a doctor."

From BBC • Apr. 13, 2026

Excitement over optical networking for AI data centers is boosting Marvell, with revenue projected to grow up to 90% this year and next.

From Barron's • Apr. 13, 2026

Did you too grow up on platitudes such as these?

From Salon • Apr. 13, 2026

I didn’t grow up playing golf, though my father would regularly watch tournaments on television on Sunday afternoons.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 10, 2026

"But once you grow up, you can make sure not to do any bad things that might get you sent back here."

From "Born Behind Bars" by Padma Venkatraman

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.