to go up
43
4.4
- phrasal verb
- /ɡoʊ ʌp/
:
quemarse
- Something else was burning, some other part of the Near South Side going up in smoke.
- go up in flames
- go up in smoke
Turns out the whole building was rigged anyway, so that really went up.
- Turns out the whole building was rigged anyway, so that really went up.
- And there was a couple instances where they had suicide side bombers that they killed on that route in our EUD and thus would go up.
- Until I lit a lighter and then accidentally, the plates went up in flames.
- They have things that kind of set them off or that worry, worry them more, you know, if your house went up in flames.
- But so back to yeah, your business went up in flames when the mortgage did.
- He can put out burning buildings, but his marriage is going up in flames at home and, and he can't fix it.
Examples
-
The greatest private art collection in North America was in danger of going up in smoke.
Academic text (2010) -
And the whole place goes up like a match box.
-
All the others had been left behind and had perhaps gone up in smoke.
Fiction book (1999) -
This computer, this computer will go up in flames right now.
-
Well, this partnership just went up in flames.
-
All our hard work just went up in smoke, like bubbles in water!
-
And so the Abbey itself and all of the archives went up in flames.
-
Most Bates County records had gone up in flames during the fighting.
Academic text (2010) -
"Curious spectators and panic-stricken residents crowd around to watch a ramshackle building going up in flames.
Fiction book (2002) -
The old warehouse went up in flames after the electrical fault was discovered.
Synonyms
121
3.0
To destroy a building or object completely by fire
27
3.7
To be completely destroyed by fire
22
6.9
Become completely destroyed or lost suddenly, often by fire
8
7.4
To burn until it turns to ash
Antonyms
How Burned
Surface Forms
Morphology
There is a clear compositional link: 'go' = become and 'up' signals a change into an 'up' state, so the idea of something becoming available is partially derivable. However, the specific reading 'be posted / uploaded / published (online)' depends on a metaphorical extension of up = online/published and on discourse conventions, so a B1 learner who only knows the literal words may not reliably infer this exact sense.
Etymology
Go up — The use of go up to mean 'burn' comes from the sight of flames and smoke rising: a house that catches fire seems to go up in flames, so it means 'to be destroyed by fire'.