open up

verb

opened up; opening up; opens up

transitive verb

1

: to make available or possible

The discovery opens up the possibility of new cures.

2

: to make plain or visible : disclose

3

: to open by cutting into

intransitive verb

1

: to become available or possible

The hostess will let us know when a table opens up.

2

: to spread out or come into view

The road opens up ahead.

3

: to commence firing

4

: to become communicative

tried to get the patient to open up

Examples of open up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

That opens up space for outsider candidates who wouldn’t have had a chance a few years ago. — Michelle Goldberg, Mercury News, 7 July 2026

Damon, 55, opened up about making the movie with Williams during the July 7 episode of Good Hang with Amy Poehler. — Victoria Edel, PEOPLE, 7 July 2026

Sexting in Suburbia probably has good intentions, but a film with such a dark plot as this probably shouldn’t include a scene in which a suicidal student opens up her locker to find a mountain of condoms tumbling out. — Brianna Zigler, Entertainment Weekly, 7 July 2026

Advertisement When a path to Canadian citizenship opened up for us in 1989, my father moved our family to Toronto, right before I was born. — Mahsa Alimardani, Time, 6 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1582, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Rhymes for open up

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

Kids Definition

open up

verb

1

: to make available

2

: to make visible or come into view

the road opens up ahead

3

: to begin firing (as with a weapon or with questions)