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 underlying premise investors have to agree with me on is that kids who grew up with a smartphone from the age of 8, and TikTok from the age of 12, are not going to respond to old formats. —Alexandra York, Forbes.com, 11 July 2025

Adults grow up to two and a half to three feet high and around five feet in length, weighing between 350-600 pounds. —Julia Gomez, USA Today, 11 July 2025

Sanabria, the city councilmember, grew up during this era in unincorporated Walnut Park, on the south side of Florence Avenue from Huntington Park. —Los Angeles Times, 11 July 2025

Education advocates said the decision would harm young people who have grown up in this country. —Annie Ma, Chicago Tribune, 11 July 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