Meaning & use
cheering on
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Meaning
verbtransitive
To shout or show support to encourage someone who is taking part in a competition or difficult activity.
Grammar: Takes an object: cheer someone on. The object can go between cheer and on, or after on.
Patterns
- cheer someone on
- cheer on someone
The crowd cheered the runners on as they passed the finish line.
My friends were cheering me on during my first marathon.
She cheered on her daughter at the school spelling bee.
Word forms
| third person singular | cheers on |
|---|---|
| past tense | cheered on |
| past participle | cheered on |
| -ing form | cheering on |
Common combinations
- cheer someone on
- We stood at the side of the road to cheer the cyclists on.
- cheer on the team
- Fans gathered in the stadium to cheer on the team.
- loudly cheer someone on
- The audience loudly cheered on the young singer.
- cheer someone on from the sidelines
- Even though he was injured, he cheered his teammates on from the sidelines.
Synonyms and how they differ
- encourage
- Encourage is more general and can mean giving emotional support without shouting; cheering on usually involves loud vocal support at an event.
- support
- Support is broader and can include financial or practical help; cheering on is specifically about vocal encouragement.
- root for
- Root for is informal and means you want someone to succeed, often without being present; cheering on suggests you are actively shouting or showing support.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: cheering on or cheering up?
cheering on vs cheering up
Cheering up means becoming or making someone happier; cheering on means encouraging someone in a competition or effort.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'cheering on' correctly?
Choose one answer.
Option 0 correctly uses 'cheering on' to mean encouraging players during a race. Option 1 confuses it with 'cheering up' (making someone happier). Option 2 is nonsense because you cannot cheer on an object. Option 3 is also nonsense; cheering on does not mean decorating.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “cheering on”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.