Meaning & use
lift up
Last updated
Meanings
verbtransitive
to move someone or something to a higher position using your hands or a machine
Grammar: Takes an object; the object can go before or after up, but a pronoun must go before up: lift it up.
Patterns
- lift up something
- lift something up
- lift someone up
Could you help me lift up this heavy box?
She lifted up the lid and looked inside.
The crane lifted the car up onto the truck.
verbtransitive
to make someone feel happier or more hopeful
Grammar: Often used with words like spirits, mood, or heart: The news lifted our spirits up.
Patterns
- lift up someone's spirits
- lift someone up
Your kind words really lifted me up.
A good song can lift up your mood.
Common combinations
- lift up your head
- Lift up your head and look at the sky.
- lift up your spirits
- The surprise party lifted up her spirits.
- lift up the lid
- He lifted up the lid of the pot to check the rice.
Synonyms and how they differ
- raise
- Raise is more formal and often used for moving something to a higher level, while lift up is more everyday and emphasizes the action with your hands.
- hoist
- Hoist means to lift something heavy using ropes or a machine; it is more technical than lift up.
Opposites
Commonly confused: lift up or lift?
lift up vs lift
Lift alone can mean the same as lift up, but it is also a noun meaning a machine that carries people between floors (British English). Lift up is only the phrasal verb.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence:
Choose one answer.
When the object is a pronoun, it must go between the verb and up: lifted it up. The other options place the pronoun incorrectly or use wrong word order.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “lift up”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.