own up

verb

owned up; owning up; owns up

intransitive verb

: to admit to being responsible for something

denied having broken the window, but later owned up

—usually used with to

They owned up to having broken the window.

Examples of own up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

That minor viral hiccup passed easily because of Freeman’s apologies and Williams owning up to his mistake. — Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune, 2 Oct. 2026

Foreign investors are currently allowed to own up to 49% of a Saudi company, leaving the kingdom as the only major Gulf market with such a cap. — Melissa Hancock, Fortune, 30 Sep. 2026

Ken Jefferson, a retired officer who spent more than two decades at JSO, said the agency needs to own up to its failures. — Kate Payne, Miami Herald, 30 Sep. 2026

The other investors were not immediately known, including one who will own up to 10% of the team. — Kurt Badenhausen, Sportico.com, 29 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1844, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for own up

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