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

The actress’ mother, Lesley Vogel, brought up Hickerson in an NBC News interview on Tuesday. — Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 20 Aug. 2026

But during discussions with Chelsea, who signed Morgan Rogers from Villa, Alejandro Garnacho was brought up, and Unai Emery decided the club should sanction a move for him, adding further difficulty to any possible deal for Mbaye. — Andy Jones, New York Times, 20 Aug. 2026

The commercial then brings up how drinking the energy drinks from Liquid Death or the light beer from Garage Beer can help anyone easily produce pee. — Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 19 Aug. 2026

Following their visit, the lawmakers called for the detention center to be closed, bringing up concerns about allegedly unsanitary conditions and medical neglect at the facility. — Dan Raby, CBS News, 19 Aug. 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