turn up

verb

turned up; turning up; turns up

transitive verb

1

: find, discover

2

: to raise or increase by or as if by turning a control

turn up the volume on the radio

3

British

a

: to look up (a word, a fact, etc.) in a book

b

: to refer to or consult (a book)

4

: to turn (a card) face upward

intransitive verb

1

: to appear or come to light unexpectedly or after being lost

new evidence has turned up

2

a(1)

: to turn out to be

He turned up missing at roll call.

(2)

: appear sense 4

her name is always turning up in the newspapers

b

: to arrive or show up at an appointed or expected time or place

turned up half an hour late

3

: to happen or occur unexpectedly

something always turned up to prevent their meeting

4

of a ship : tack sense 1b

see also:

turn up one's nose

Synonyms of turn up

• appear
• show
• unfold
• come
• show up

Examples of turn up in a Sentence

my missing car keys turned up just in time

when do you think our guests will turn up?

Recent Examples on the Web

Last summer, the air conditioning broke or was turned up too high, according to court filings. —Seth Klamann, Denver Post, 9 June 2026

LyondellBasell Industries , DuPont , Baxter International and Alexandria Real Estate Equities also turned up on Morgan Stanley's list. —Darla Mercado, Cfp®, CNBC, 9 June 2026

Streaming social media with the volume turned up for all within 20 feet to hear. —Chicago Tribune, 8 June 2026

Chess star Lea Michele turned up the dial on her trousers and shirt combo, wearing black sparkling wide-leg trousers with a train and a crisp white tank top. —Hedy Phillips, PEOPLE, 8 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1580, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 4

Rhymes for turn up

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

Kids Definition

turn up

verb

1

: to be found or happen usually unexpectedly

2

: to raise by or as if by using a control

turn up the heat

3

: arrive sense 1

turned up late