crop up

verb

cropped up; cropping up; crops up

intransitive verb

: to come or appear when not expected

New problems crop up every day.

His name crops up frequently as a potential candidate.

Examples of crop up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Moments like those below, where Kroupi is well-positioned to volley (or header) a dropping ball in the box, crop up frequently in his goals gallery, too. — Art De Roché, New York Times, 17 July 2026

Netflix’s decade-plus run of TV dominance means Wall Street and others judge it on an unforgiving curve, and when issues crop up — like this last stretch of mediocre ratings — folks are going to take notice. — Josef Adalian, Vulture, 16 July 2026

Interracial summer camps, while not widespread, did start to crop up in the mid-20th century. — Seth T. Kannarr, Fortune, 13 July 2026

The course comes two months after the city held a daylong expo about AI and at a time when Black communities are leery of AI and are concerned about the onslaught of data centers cropping up in their communities. — Raisa Habersham, Miami Herald, 7 July 2026

Word History

Etymology

Note: See note at crop entry 2

First Known Use

1844, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for crop up

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