turn up
/ˌtɝn ˈʌp/
Reviewed on
Type
Phrasal verb
Meaning
To arrive or appear, especially unexpectedly or after an absence.
He promised to help us move, but he did not turn up until noon.
Will any of your coworkers turn up at the reception tonight?
To be found, discovered, or recovered, often by chance.
Do not worry about the missing keys because they usually turn up in a jacket pocket.
Did that missing contract ever turn up in the archives?
To increase the volume, temperature, speed, or intensity of a device.
Could you please turn up the heat because the living room feels chilly?
Why did she turn the radio up so loud while everyone was studying?
To discover or reveal something through investigation or searching.
A routine audit turned up several accounting errors in the annual report.
Has the background investigation turned up anything unusual about the candidate?
How it's used
When this means “arrive or appear”
- turn up at the meeting
“turned up there.”
She turned up at the meeting twenty minutes late.
When this means “be found”
- turn up eventually
The missing wallet will probably turn up eventually.
When this means “increase the setting of a device”
Both orders mean the same thing.
- turn up the volume
- turn the volume up
it and them go in the middle: “turn it up.” Not “turn up it.”
Please turn the music up so we can hear it.
Collocations
- turn up late
- turn up unannounced
- turn up the heat
- turn up new evidence
- turn up empty-handed
Antonyms
Idioms
turn up one's nose
to reject something with disdain
He turned up his nose at the budget hotel we suggested.
turn up like a bad penny
to reappear persistently when unwanted
Whenever there is trouble, he turns up like a bad penny.