light up

1. 1.

   start to burn with a bright flame

   “The coal in the BBQ grill finally lit up”

   Broadererupt
2. 2.

   make lighter or brighter

   “This lamp lightens the room a bit”

   Synonymslightillumeillumineilluminate

   Broaderlighten

   Narrowerfloodlightspotlight
3. 3.

   become clear

   “The sky cleared after the storm”

   Synonymsclear upclearbrighten
4. 4.

   ignite

   “The sky lit up quickly above the raging volcano”

   Broaderignite
5. 5.

   begin to smoke

   “After the meal, some of the diners lit up”

   Synonymsfire uplight

   Broaderignite

Questions about light up

What does light up mean?

light up means "start to burn with a bright flame". That is the primary sense; the word has 5 in total, listed in full on this page.

What is another word for light up?

Close synonyms include light, illume, illumine, illuminate, clear up. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is light up a common word?

light up is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.