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

• grow
• progress
• develop

Examples of grow up in a Sentence

everyone has to grow up at some point in their lives

Recent Examples on the Web

The 21-year-old grew up knowing how big the rivalry with the Jayhawks was, and was very excited to contribute to the victory. —Joseph Hernandez, Kansas City Star, 7 Sep. 2025

Elvis Costello recently recalled his earliest experience with Bob Dylan’s music as a kid growing up in Britain in the 1960s. —David Chiu, Forbes.com, 7 Sep. 2025

The Nacua siblings grew up in Las Vegas and Provo, Utah, and their dad — who died from diabetes complications in May 2012 — trained his sons to play football. —Emily Krauser, PEOPLE, 7 Sep. 2025

Jarvis Cocker grew up adoring the love songs of the ’70s. —Jed Gottlieb, Boston Herald, 7 Sep. 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