light up

phrasal verb

1

of a light : to become lit : to begin shining

All of the lights on the display suddenly lit up.

—often used figuratively to express interest or pleasure

His eyes/face lit up when she walked in the room.

2

informal, of a telephone : to show a light indicating that someone is calling

When the DJ announced a contest, the phones lit up.

3

informal : to light a cigarette

I can't wait to light up after work.

Examples of light up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Their most visible impact is the auroras that light up the sky with green, purple and pink light. —Andrew Freedman, CNN Money, 14 Aug. 2025

Then, at last, phones would no longer light up with missile alerts to respond to, or even to ignore. —David Remnick, New Yorker, 28 July 2025

Gotham City Police haven't shown up in Detroit, but the Bat Signal will light up the Max M. and Marjorie S. Fisher Music Center this week to celebrate Detroit Symphony Orchestra's Batman 1989 concert. —Natalie Davies, Freep.com, 23 July 2025

While Glass Onion, the second instalment in the A Knives Out franchise, didn’t quite light up with critics in the same way as the first, Johnson’s trilogy has major star power and a big ol’ tick in the originality box. —Max Goldbart, Deadline, 18 July 2025

Rhymes for light up

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