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

• age
• develop
• grow
• mature
• progress
• ripen

Examples of grow up in a Sentence

everyone has to grow up at some point in their lives

Recent Examples on the Web

Allan Feliz had a 6-month-old baby boy, who has had to grow up without his father. —Lourdes Rosado, New York Daily News, 30 Apr. 2025

Hypothetical question sparks discourse Celebrity eaglets growing up fast as internet watches on: Meet Sunny and Gizmo Kangaroo puts up a chase The kangaroo was not injured in the incident, ALEA said, and al.com reported, citing Brunson. —Saman Shafiq, USA Today, 30 Apr. 2025

Watching The Masters and seeing the fans engaged and focused reminded me of growing up without cell phones. —Richard Deitsch, New York Times, 29 Apr. 2025

Rowe grew up in Idaho Rowe grew up in Boise, Idaho, and had dreamed of being an actress as a child. —Rebecca Aizin, People.com, 29 Apr. 2025

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