light up
light up verb: to illuminate, to bring light to something, to brighten.
Verb (1)
light up (third-person singular simple present lights up, present participle lighting up, simple past and past participle lit up or (rare) lighted up)
- To illuminate, to bring light to something, to brighten.
- The deafening claps of thunder and the dazzling flashes of lightning which lit up the ghastly scene testified that the artillery of heaven had lent its supernatural pomp to the already gruesome spectacle.Episode 12, The Cyclops
- I've never seen a supernova blow up, but if it's anything like my old Chevy Nova, it'll light up the night sky.2001, J. Stewart Burns, “Roswell That Ends Well”, in Futurama, season 3, episode 19, spoken by Philip J. Fry (Billy West)
- To start to emit light; to become activated as a light source.
- When we cranked up the engine, the fire warning light lit up.2009, President Nixon's Pilot, Jim Bell, in The Propinquity Effect →ISBN
- To show an increase in activity or a brightening of mood.
- Clara's eyes lit up at this highly unusual occurrence.1956 [1880], Johanna Spyri, Heidi, translation of original by Eileen Hall, page 84
- He saw Mary and his face lit up.
- To ignite.
- Absence might cure it, or a second mistress / Light up another flame, and put out this.1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene iv, page 12
- To light a cigarette, pipe, etc.
- Smoking in this building is not allowed, so I always step outside to light up.
- The cleaner worked, of course, at nights. He had to coal and light up the engine, as well as clean it, for the next day's work, which commenced with a light run to Barnham to "bring in the goods" from that station at about 6.30 a.m.1952 February, J. Pelham Maitland, “Locomotive Working on Sussex Branches Fifty Years Ago”, in Railway Magazine, page 84
- Synonyms:
- spark up
- To light a cigarette, pipe, etc. for (someone).
- [He] accepted a cigar from one of his timid admirers. They followed him like Kindergärtner as he pointedly moved away from the Owl before allowing someone to light him up.1976, John Kelly, The Wooden Wolf, New York, N.Y.: Golden Apple Publications, published 1983, →ISBN, page 212
- Then I tried simply holding unlighted cigarettes, continually rejecting offers by well-meaning friends to light me up. Nothing worked.2008 December 17, Benjamin Bederson, “Read the Warning, Light a Cigarette?”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 18 Sep 2025
- To make happy.
- You are a shining light, and you light up my life.2001, Ash, Shining Light
- "It lights me up, make me happy. Sometimes I go home, go in my room and cry with joy,"said Hudson smiling2010, WLTX.com, Young Girl Continues Bike Giveaway Tradition, 25 Nov 2010
- To introduce (someone to something), to make someone aware of or interested in something; turn on.
- Those clauses aren't all that uncommon these days; they were protecting thousands of gay and lesbian people before there were any city gay rights ordinances. That kind of stuff lit me up to the labor movement.1990 February 4, Pam Mitchell, quoting Gerry Scoppettuolo, “Pro-Union And Queer”, in Gay Community News, volume 17, number 29, page 17
- I never troll the other side but being in Florida for a few days & seeing the dude with the Gadsden “Don’t Tread on Me” shirt really lit me up to the reality of this nightmare we’re all trying desperately to survive & to keep our precious Democracy.2024 March 2, @Hannahsbenz17, Twitter
- To open fire on a target or group of targets, especially with rockets, a flamethrower, etc.
- telling me to light it up if it didn't stop approaching
- The back plating looks vulnerable, light that sucker up!2007 September 25, Bungie, Halo 3, spoken by Marcus Stacker (Pete Stacker), Microsoft Game Studios, Xbox 360, level/area: The Ark
- To shock (someone) with a stun gun.
- Synonyms:
- tase
- To activate the emergency sirens on a police vehicle in order to pull someone over.
- I guess he doesn't realize who's behind him, because the way he's darting and weaving, he's practically begging me to light him up.
Verb (2)
light up (third-person singular simple present lights up, present participle lighting up, simple past and past participle lighted up)
light up meaning in Malayalam and Kannada
light up in Malayalam
- to light up, to be lit or glow
- കത്തുക kattuka
light up in Kannada
- ಬೆಳಗಿಸು, ಪ್ರಕಾಶಿಸು, ಕಳೆಯೇರಿಸು, ಬೆಳಕುದೋರು, ಬೆಳಂಗಿಸು
Examples of light up in a sentence
- The illumination was organised by Martin Whyte from events company The Stage Group, fulfilling a long-held ambition of his to light up the 21-arch Scottish structure.2020 April 22, “Network News: Glenfinnan turns blue to honour NHS workers”, in Rail, page 9:
- where a group of women rolled up to enjoy the free plonk and spill out on to the pavement to light up and chat each other up2019, Bernardine Evaristo, Girl, Woman, Other, Penguin Books (2020), page 15:
Synonyms of light up
Forms of light up
| third-person singular present | lights up |
|---|---|
| present participle | lighting up |
| past participle | lit up |
| past | lit up |
| past participle | lighted up |
| past | lighted up |
| past participle (rare) | lighted up |
| past (rare) | lighted up |
Origin of light up
Phrasal verb from light (“to make bright, ignite”, verb) + up (“to a higher degree”, adverb).
Phrasal verb from light (“to make less heavy”, verb) + up (“to a higher degree”, adverb).
Words formed from light up
Questions about light up
- What does light up mean?
- Light up means to illuminate, to bring light to something, to brighten.
- What is light up in Malayalam?
- Light up in Malayalam is കത്തുക (kattuka). See Light up meaning in Malayalam.
- How do you use light up in a sentence?
- The illumination was organised by Martin Whyte from events company The Stage Group, fulfilling a long-held ambition of his to light up the 21-arch Scottish structure.
- What part of speech is light up?
- Light up is a verb.
- What is the past tense of light up?
- The past tense of light up is lit up.
Words near light up in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: light up (page history and authors); കത്തുക (Malayalam) (page history and authors); light up (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-light up.ogg.
Cite this entry: “light up.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/light_up. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.