to light up
33
4.6
- phrasal verb
- /laɪt ʌp/
- Informal
:
encender
- Several assistants come and compliment Loc Rhod, who sighs, lights up a cigarette, and drops his pretense.
- light up a cigarette
- smokers light up
- light up a smoke
And after class would end, we would light up in the classroom and we would ash in our, our, you know, soda cans.
- And after class would end, we would light up in the classroom and we would ash in our, our, you know, soda cans.
Examples
-
Seth hangs up the phone, lights up a cigarette with his Zippo lighter, and exits frame.
Fiction book (1996) -
The coffee was heavy and sweet, so I poured another cup and lit up another cigarette.
Fiction book (1991) -
You see their little eyes light up when I bring home a treat.
Fiction book (1992) -
Put it in your mouth, light it up and you're going to get your fix.
-
"Just go ahead and write on the wall," Custer said, lighting up a cigarette.
Fiction book (1996) -
As the night fell, he decided to light up a cigarette on the balcony.
-
After a long day at work, she likes to light up a pipe and relax in her favorite chair.
-
He always lights up a cigar to celebrate special occasions.
Synonyms
905
1.0
To make something start to burn or shine
6
5.5
Light a cigarette, cigar, or pipe to smoke
To light and smoke a cigarette
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
light + up
The sense 'to become lively or cheerful' follows directly from combining 'light' (to illuminate or make brighter) with the particle 'up' (intensifying/completing the action) — together they yield 'brighten', which easily extends metaphorically to mood or atmosphere. This verb+particle composition and the brightness→cheer metaphor are common cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents is likely to infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Light up comes from putting a flame to a cigarette, pipe, or cigar; when you light it the tip glows and gives smoke, so the phrase means 'to begin to smoke'.