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go up - definition and synonyms

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phrasal verb [intransitive]
Word Forms
present tense
I/you/we/theygo up
he/she/itgoes up
present participlegoing up
past tensewent up
past participlegone up
  1. 1
    to increase

    We’d like to see the baby’s weight going steadily up.

    The price of oil has gone up by over 50 per cent in less than a year.

  2. 3
    if something such as a notice or sign goes up somewhere, it is put in a place where people can see it

    Posters for the show are going up all over town.

  3. 4
    to start burning quickly or explode

    The whole building went up in just a few minutes.

    go up in flames:

    From the air, it looked as if the entire city was going up in flames.

  4. 5
    to travel towards the north

    Max goes up to Scotland to fish every summer.

    1. a.
      British to travel to a place that is larger or more important than the place that you are leaving

      Let’s go up to London next week.

  5. 6
    British to go to a university, especially Oxford or Cambridge, at the beginning of a term (=period of study) or a course of study
  6. 7
    if a noise goes up from a group of people, they all start to make it
    go up from:

    A cheer went up from the crowd.

  7. 8
    British to move to a higher division in a sports league (=a group of teams)
  8. 9
    to be long or tall enough to reach a particular higher point or level
    go up to:

    The fire escape only went up to the second floor.

See also main entry: go
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