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

Reflecting on the records set by KPop Demon Hunters, Lin brings up a 2021 movie called Red Notice. —Eliza Berman, Time, 9 Dec. 2025

Not one person failed to bring up guns. —The New Yorker, New Yorker, 9 Dec. 2025

Sure enough, the sticky surface of the connector segment back to Arizona Trail passage 3 brought up haunting memories of being mired in muck the previous month near the Mogollon Rim, and forced me to employ a new mud-scraping stick within an hour of getting back on trail. —Joan Meiners, AZCentral.com, 8 Dec. 2025

Daniels making a play on the turnover will be looked at and brought up plenty, as that was not the right call. —James Brizuela, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 Dec. 2025

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