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grow up

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Etymology

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Dissimilated from Middle English upgrowen.

Pronunciation

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Verb

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grow up (third-person singular simple present grows up, present participle growing up, simple past grew up, past participle grown up)

  1. (intransitive) To mature and become an adult.
    What do you want to be when you grow up?
    • 2021 December 29, Stephen Roberts, “Stories and facts behind railway plaques: Evesham (1870)”, in RAIL, number 947, page 58:
      I'm in the place where I grew up, where my alma mater is.
  2. (intransitive) To start to develop; to flourish.
    Socialism grew up in the industrial cities.
  3. (intransitive, idiomatic) To stop acting as or like a child (often used as an imperative interjection).
    Will you grow up please, and stop making silly faces?

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Interjection

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grow up

  1. (imperative) Used to criticize childish behavior, especially that considered unreasonable for one's age.
    You're giggling because I said "butt"? Grow up, seriously.
    Grow up! The Bible is nothing more than a astrotheological allegory for things like the Sun!

Anagrams

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