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

More usual suspects crop up throughout the ‘security goal’ list, with the ability to be in the right place at the right time often important as games become more stretched when a losing team starts chasing a game. — Art De Roché, New York Times, 23 Aug. 2026

But then came the confounding stuff that crops up periodically with the third-leading scorer (1,122 points) in Chiefs history behind Nick Lowery (1,466) and Jan Stenerud (1,231). — Kansas City Star, 23 Aug. 2026

Lehman said the lowball tactics have cropped up in multiple ways. — Alex Nitkin, Chicago Tribune, 23 Aug. 2026

Occasionally German words and expressions crop up, without comment or translation. — Literary Hub, 11 Aug. 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