Word.ws English Dictionary

raising the bar

raising the bar is the present participle and gerund of raise the bar.

Meaning of raise the bar

Verb

raise the bar (third-person singular simple present raises the bar, present participle raising the bar, simple past and past participle raised the bar)

  1. (idiomatic) To raise standards or expectations, especially by creating something to a higher standard.
    • Acme's new technology will raise the bar for the entire industry.
    Synonyms:
    lift the bar
    Antonyms:
    lower the bar

Questions about raising the bar

What is raising the bar the present participle and gerund of?
Raising the bar is the present participle and gerund of raise the bar.

Words near raising the bar in the dictionary

  1. raising someone's shag
  2. raising someone's spirits
  3. raising steam
  4. raising the alarm
  5. raising the ante
  6. raising the bar
  7. raising the dead
  8. raising the devil
  9. raising the flag and seeing who salutes
  10. raising the roof
  11. raising the specter

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: raising the bar (page history and authors); raise the bar (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:

Cite this entry: “raising the bar.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/raising_the_bar. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.