grow up

verb

grew up; grown up; growing up; grows up

intransitive verb

1

a

: to grow toward or arrive at full stature or physical or mental maturity : to progress from childhood toward adulthood

growing up intellectually

grew up in the city

also : to become an adult

She wants to be a doctor when she grows up.

b

: to stop thinking or behaving in a childish way

He should grow up and accept his responsibilities.

2

: to begin to exist and develop as time passes

A number of cities grew up along the river.

Synonyms of grow up

• grow
• progress

Examples of grow up in a Sentence

everyone has to grow up at some point in their lives

Recent Examples on the Web

Heaps grew up in Golden and made no secret of her interest in playing in her home state after the Summit was announced as the league's 16th team back in January 2025. —Romi Bean, CBS News, 13 Jan. 2026

In contrast, Abela grew up in Rottingdean, a village near Brighton on England’s south coast. —Louis Staples, Glamour, 12 Jan. 2026

Travel + Leisure associate editor Anna Popp grew up taking ice skating lessons and skating recreationally. —Anna Popp, Travel + Leisure, 12 Jan. 2026

Gianba, who grew up in the Cinque Terre region of Italy, always dreamed of owning his own restaurant. —Jenn Harris, Los Angeles Times, 12 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1535, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for grow up

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

Kids Definition

grow up

verb

: to grow toward or reach full mental and physical growth