to light up
52
4.1
- phrasal verb
- /laɪt ʌp/
:
iluminarse
- Did you notice the way his eyes light up when he smiles?
- eyes light up
- face lights up
- whole face lit up
And every time I see a green, I'm going to light up and say, ah, fantastic.
- And every time I see a green, I'm going to light up and say, ah, fantastic.
- And the guy's eyes just lit up and he's like, that sounds amazing.
- So without control, it looks like these fans don't light up.
- Quite the charmer with a smile so bright she light up the night.
- And when I told him I'm from Chicago, he just, he just lit up.
- That's I love the way your face lights up when you speak about your daughters.
- When I see people, I ask them, they pause and then their face lights up or they laugh.
- When you create a question that they get the answer for it, they automatically they like light up and they ask the next question.
- The light, the sky was lit up by rockets and I visited my old paratrooper unit.
- True joy is walking into my son's room in the morning or after his nap and just seeing his beautiful face light up.
- But on average, this is what will what will light up most, most men.
- Not in a bad way, but they don't light up.
- So right now we're showing this new candle holder which lights up basic Betty.
Examples
-
Because your eyes kind of light up when you talk about him.
-
"Really?" For the first time that morning, Karen saw Tiff's face light up with a smile.
Fiction book (1994) -
l love how your face lights up when you talk about them.
-
And you are smart and beautiful and funny, and your smile lights up the room.
-
Their eyes would light up.
-
Your eyes are all lit up like when you were a little girl.
-
And every time I see a green, I'm going to light up and say, ah, fantastic.
-
I get to watch people's eyes light up and hear them say, "Wow!"
Academic text (2000) -
He lights up every time he sees you.
-
Her face would light up with joy every time she saw her best friend.
Synonyms
905
1.0
To make something start to burn or shine
93
1.0
To have warm, healthy cheeks that show happiness
52
4.1
To make something bright or visible with light
17
2.7
Make a room or person more cheerful
3
3.4
Make a room feel happier and more lively
3
3.8
Make a room feel happy and friendly when someone arrives
1
6.8
Look suddenly very happy and excited
Antonyms
How Happy
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 the image of a face or someone's eyes suddenly becoming bright, like a light being switched on, so it can mean 'to become very happy' or 'to make a place bright', and by the same sudden reaction it can also mean 'to scold' when someone shows strong anger quickly.