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

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was first published in 1876 and is all about a boy growing up along the Mississippi River in the 1840s and who is constantly getting into sticky situations. — Caroline Rogers, Southern Living, 22 Aug. 2026

Like Lamine Yamal, Pau Cubarsi and Marc Bernal, who were all born in that year and grew up in the academy together, Xavi Espart fulfilled the dream of millions of youngsters worldwide by making his Barcelona debut. — Tom Sanderson, Forbes.com, 22 Aug. 2026

Greg, who grew up on the property, described the estate’s significance in more personal terms. — David Caraccio, Sacbee.com, 22 Aug. 2026

Classic notes are also growing up this season—tonka is vanilla’s more interesting older sister, able to shift from woody to dry to nutty, depending on the present company. — Loren Savini, Allure, 22 Aug. 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