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✊ To rebel ⬆️ To move upward 🐎 To stand on hind legs
to rise up

to rise up

69 5.8
Join others to fight against those in power
  • phrasal verb
  • /raɪz ʌp/
translation icon : alzarse
  • Though their bravery inspired the masses to rise up, the masses were soon embracing more traditional saviors.
  • people rise up
  • the masses rise up

And now you see the people finally rising up.

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Examples

  • The insurgents have struck again, and now citizens are rising up.

    Red Dawn (2012)

  • As one, the people rose up and smote Leopold Doppler with gravy boats.

    It Runs in the Family (1994)

  • You know, we are seeing people rise up to protect human rights.

  • This is our chance to rise up together.

    Dumb Money (2023)

  • We will rise up against you.

    The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie (2024)

  • I say we join as one, rise up and protest.

    Judas (2004)

  • It's time for the people to rise up and take back their freedoms.

  • I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed.

    Lex Fridman

  • Someday the pencil-pushers will rise up and overthrow the computer heads, and sanity will return.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • People often rise up against oppressive governments when their rights are denied.

Synonyms

to rise
vsto rise up
76 8.0

To start a fight against those in power

covers rebellion more broadly, not limited to armed action
to rebel
vsto rise up
48 4.1

To act against the government or people in power

denotes active uprising against authority rather than general resistance
to stand up against
vsto rise up
22 3.7

To resist a person or rule that treats people unfairly

means taking part in a rebellion, not just opposing unfairness
to revolt
vsto rise up
22 4.9

Rise up against a government or ruler

focuses on rebellion against any authority, not only rulers
to take up arms
vsto rise up
16 7.7

Start fighting with weapons against an enemy or unfair rulers

refers to joining a rebellion, not only the act of fighting
to arise
vsto rise up
  • Literature
10 8.9

Take part in a rebellion against a ruler or government

is identical in meaning and usage

Antonyms

to surrender
722 4.4

To stop fighting and give control or things to someone else, often when forced

to submit
187 4.1

To accept another person's control, often against your wishes

How Rebellious

to riot
26 4.9
to rise up
69 5.8
to rebel
48 4.1
to protest
283 3.2

Surface Forms

rise up infinitive
rising up present participle
rises up third person singular
rose up past
risen up past participle

Morphology

rise + up

The meaning 'to stand up on its hind legs' is directly derived from combining 'rise' (to move upward) with the directional particle 'up' (to a higher position); this motion-compositional pattern is transparent and predictable. Although the animal-specific sense (rearing) is a more specialized context, the core upward/standing meaning would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.

Etymology

Rise up comes from the image of people standing up together against their rulers. When a crowd literally stood and moved to fight, they 'rose up', so today it means 'to rebel' or 'take part in a revolt'.