wise up
Britishverb
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slang (often foll by to) to become or cause to become aware or informed (of)
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(tr) to make more intellectually demanding or sophisticated
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.
It’s a scam, of course, one that only he knows is happening and it requires him and his hoodwinked team to occasionally hit the road before suckers wise up and want their money back.
From Seattle Times
Brett Baird, the office manager for Green Home Solutions, which does weatherization work in Pennsylvania and New Jersey under agreements with local utilities, said consumers are just beginning to wise up.
From Seattle Times
What converted me was my wife telling me I’d be banned from her store if I didn’t wise up.
From Los Angeles Times
“Women’s athletics is not a fad. There are just too many of them out there. They have so much enthusiasm and it isn’t going to stop. The ADs had better wise up.”
From Seattle Times
He said he was very thankful for the health care he had received, but said politicians in Northern Ireland needed to "wise up" and help the health service.
From BBC
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.
