grow up

verb

grew up; grown up; growing up; grows up

intransitive verb

1

a

: to grow toward or arrive at full stature or physical or mental maturity : to progress from childhood toward adulthood

growing up intellectually

grew up in the city

also : to become an adult

She wants to be a doctor when she grows up.

b

: to stop thinking or behaving in a childish way

He should grow up and accept his responsibilities.

2

: to begin to exist and develop as time passes

A number of cities grew up along the river.

Synonyms

• age
• develop
• grow
• mature
• progress
• ripen

Examples of grow up in a Sentence

everyone has to grow up at some point in their lives

Recent Examples on the Web

Instead, his performances in movies such as Nacho Libre, School of Rock, and High Fidelity demonstrate the comfortable charisma of a class clown who survived maturity and grew up to be the life of the party. —Jeremy Gordon, The Atlantic, 12 June 2024

Xiong grew up in Minnesota feeling disconnected from her Hmong culture, but later gained inspiration from the stories she was exposed to about her immigrant parents and their journey to America. —Frederick Melo, Twin Cities, 12 June 2024

That version had Zendaya’s Rue grow up to be a private detective. —Zoe Guy, Vulture, 11 June 2024

Hilderbrand, now 54, grew up in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, a Philadelphia suburb, and spent her childhood summers with family in Cape Cod. —Melissa Kravitz Hoeffner, Glamour, 11 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1535, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

grow up

verb

: to grow toward or reach full mental and physical growth