LIGHT UP

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does light up mean? 

• LIGHT UP (verb)
  The verb LIGHT UP has 5 senses:

1. start to burn with a bright flame

2. make lighter or brighter

3. become clear

4. ignite

5. begin to smoke

  Familiarity information: LIGHT UP used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• LIGHT UP (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Start to burn with a bright flame

Classified under:

Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering

Context example:

The coal in the BBQ grill finally lit up

Hypernyms (to "light up" is one way to...):

catch fire; combust; conflagrate; erupt; ignite; take fire (start to burn or burst into flames)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make lighter or brighter

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

illume; illuminate; illumine; light; light up

Context example:

This lamp lightens the room a bit

Hypernyms (to "light up" is one way to...):

lighten; lighten up (become lighter)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "light up"):

floodlight (illuminate with floodlights)

spotlight (illuminate with a spotlight, as in the theater)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Become clear

Classified under:

Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering

Synonyms:

brighten; clear; clear up; light up

Context example:

The sky cleared after the storm

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
It is ----ing

Sense 4

Meaning:

Ignite

Classified under:

Verbs of raining, snowing, thawing, thundering

Context example:

The sky lit up quickly above the raging volcano

Hypernyms (to "light up" is one way to...):

ignite; light (cause to start burning; subject to fire or great heat)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 5

Meaning:

Begin to smoke

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Synonyms:

fire up; light; light up

Context example:

After the meal, some of the diners lit up

Hypernyms (to "light up" is one way to...):

ignite; light (cause to start burning; subject to fire or great heat)

"Light up" entails doing...:

smoke (inhale and exhale smoke from cigarettes, cigars, pipes)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

 Context examples 

One of these areas will light up for you in the days that follow the new moon on January 24.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

If the same source were to light up again, it might support this hypothesis.

(NASA Satellite Spots a Mystery That's Gone in a Flash, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

When the conditions are right, fluorescent plankton can light up around the boat as it sails.

(ALMA Finds Huge Hidden Reservoirs of Turbulent Gas in Distant Galaxies, ESO)

These cells light up when seen under a microscope with a special blue light.

(Fluorescence-guided surgery, NCI Dictionary)

When these pieces of DNA bind to specific genes or areas of chromosomes on the slide, they light up when viewed under a microscope with a special light.

(FISH, NCI Dictionary)

The collision boosts the light up to much higher energies.

(NASA’s Fermi Mission Links Nearby Pulsar’s Gamma-ray ‘Halo’ to Antimatter Puzzle, NASA)

He waited till it was darker and people had begun to light up their houses, and then seeing a little glimmer ahead of him, he went towards it.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Suddenly there was the momentary gleam of a light up in the direction of the ventilator, which vanished immediately, but was succeeded by a strong smell of burning oil and heated metal.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Then, in the gloom, we saw the two side-lamps of a trap light up in the stable-yard of the inn, and shortly afterwards heard the rattle of hoofs, as it wheeled out into the road and tore off at a furious pace in the direction of Chesterfield.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

At five in the cold winter's morning the bugles were blowing in the hamlet of St. Jean Pied-du-Port, and by six Sir Nigel's Company, three hundred strong, were on their way for the defile, pushing swiftly in the dim light up the steep curving road; for it was the prince's order that they should be the first to pass through, and that they should remain on guard at the further end until the whole army had emerged from the mountains.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)