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

• breed
• foster
• nourish
• nurse
• raise
• rear

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

Ketel Marte struck out before Pavin Smith hit a two-run single to trim the deficit to one, bringing up Tawa. —Miami Herald, 28 June 2025

In May, the chatbot randomly brought up claims of a white genocide in South Africa in responses to completely unrelated queries. —Hadas Gold, CNN Money, 27 June 2025

Diddy's former chief of staff was brought up in testimony from Cassie; Diddy's ex, Jane; and each of his former personal assistants. —Lauryn Overhultz , Tracy Wright, FOXNews.com, 27 June 2025

Brogdon might be brought up again at some point in the coming days. —Evan Massey, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 June 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