go up

phrasal verb

Formsgoes up, going up, went up, gone up

9 meanings of go up

1
move upwardphrasal verbintransitive
To move upward, from a lower position to a higher one.
Hot-air balloons go up more easily in the cool morning air.
The rocket went up without a hitch, trailing a column of white smoke.
Similarrise, ascend
Oppositedescend
2
phrasal verbintransitive
Of a price, cost, or value, to become higher than it was.
Gas prices are expected to go up before the holiday weekend.
Her retirement savings have gone up nearly 20 percent since January.
Similarrise, increase
Oppositefall, drop, decrease
3
be builtphrasal verbintransitive
Of a building or other structure, to be built or erected.
Apartment towers seem to go up overnight in this part of the city.
Scaffolding went up around the cathedral last spring.
Similarrise
4
burnphrasal verbintransitive
To be consumed by fire; to burn up.
Those old timber houses go up like kindling once a fire takes hold.
The warehouse went up in flames before the first fire truck arrived.
Similarburn, combust
Note
The fire usually gets named in a phrase after it: the building went up in smoke, the warehouse went up in flames. Speed tends to be part of the picture, so the phrase pairs naturally with in minutes or like kindling, and burn up is the plainer way to say the same.
5
bankruptphrasal verbintransitive
To fail completely and be ruined, in particular by going bankrupt.
When the railroad scheme collapsed, a dozen investors went up with it, losing every cent.
Without the loan, the whole firm would go up by the end of the year.
Similarfold, fail, collapse
6
prisonphrasal verbintransitive
To be imprisoned; to be sent to prison.
If the jury convicts him, he'll go up for ten years.
Two of the gang went up for the robbery while the third walked free.
7
forget lines (acting)phrasal verbintransitive
To forget one's lines or stage movements during a performance in front of an audience.
In the second act she went up completely, and her scene partner had to feed her the line.
Every actor's nightmare is to go up in front of a full house.
Similardry, blank
Note
Theater people use it for the moment memory fails on stage, often with on: she went up on her big speech. It covers blocking as well as lines, so an actor can go up on where to stand as surely as on what to say. A prompter or a quick-thinking partner can feed the missing words, and a good cast covers the gap.
8
cricket appealphrasal verbintransitive
In cricket, to appeal to the umpire for a batter's dismissal.
The whole team went up for the catch behind, but the umpire shook his head.
Bowlers tend to go up for leg before whenever the ball strikes the pad.
Similarappeal
Note
Cricket gives a batter out only when the fielding side asks, so the appeal is part of the game rather than a protest. Going up means the bowler and fielders turning to the umpire together, usually with a shout of "How's that?", and the umpire answers with a raised finger or a not out. Players go up for a particular dismissal: for the catch, for leg before.

Less common meaning

9
universityphrasal verbdatedBritishintransitive
To attend a university as a student.
He went up to Oxford to read history in the autumn after the war.
Few boys from the village could afford to go up to university in those days.
Note
Older British speech sends a student up to a university, and the university is usually named: he went up to Oxford. It travels with read for the subject, so he went up to read history. Present-day English says go to university or start university instead, which carries none of the period flavor.

Practice

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