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

Taking a more serious tone, Waterman noted how new issues keep cropping up in new theaters—all while the United States and China are planning to hold a new round of trade talks in Paris, replete with its own set of tensions. —Jasmin Malik Chua, Sourcing Journal, 10 Mar. 2026

Guerrilla art highlighting Epstein’s relationships with prominent people in power have cropped up in DC before. —News Desk, Artforum, 10 Mar. 2026

This idea has cropped up across California in the hopes of keeping aging refineries open. —Paasha Mahdavi, Mercury News, 6 Mar. 2026

The campaign aims to house as many as 350 people by this summer before moving on to the second and third phases, which will establish outreach that keeps people from falling into homelessness and prevents the camps from cropping up again. —Alysa Guffey, IndyStar, 6 Mar. 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