bring up

verb

brought up; bringing up; brings up

transitive verb

1

: to bring (a person) to maturity through nurturing care and education

2

: to cause to stop suddenly

3

a

: to bring to attention : introduce

b

computers : to cause (something, such as a file or picture) to appear on a computer screen

… you can make any picture that it displays into wallpaper by right-clicking with the arrow over the art to bring up a box with a "Set as wallpaper" choice.

—Barry Popik

4

: vomit

intransitive verb

: to stop suddenly

Synonyms of bring up

• raise
• foster

Examples of bring up in a Sentence

it takes an immense commitment and a lot of love to bring up a child properly

I hate to bring this up, but we're running short of money.

Recent Examples on the Web

So for me, there is only one winner — and that is Salah’s goal against Galatasaray to bring up his 50th goal in the competition. —Jack Lang, New York Times, 28 May 2026

The other candidates’ blackout is compounded by the eagerness of debate mediators to interrogate the candidates on other issues while failing to bring up education. —Dan Walters, Mercury News, 27 May 2026

Deregulation opponents bring up sanitation concerns. —Eric Zamparripa, Chicago Tribune, 27 May 2026

Ellie brings up the salad and seizes the opportunity to take credit for her part in making lunch. —Rafaela Bassili, Vulture, 26 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Rhymes for bring up

• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup
• markup

Kids Definition

bring up

verb

1

: to bring to maturity through care and education

bring up a child

2

: to bring to attention : introduce

I hate to keep bringing this up

Medical Definition

bring up

transitive verb

(ˈ)briŋ-ˈəp 

: vomit