Dictionary.com

Popular Searches

 Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

think up

British  

verb

  1. (tr, adverb) to invent or devise

    to think up a plan
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
think up Idioms  

  1. Devise, contrive by thinking, as in She's an expert at thinking up interesting programs. [Mid-1800s]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

When they reunited atop the broken ship, Duane had thought up a question.

From Literature

No one calls her a Singing Mouse, or whatever ridiculous nickname Denny probably would have thought up.

From Literature

So far I had thought up compliments for six people, including Alice.

From Literature

The scheme was thought up by adventurer and financier William Paterson.

From The Wall Street Journal

There it was: the delicately arched eyebrow, the waves of brown hair cascading poetically over that intelligent forehead....No doubt he was busy thinking up plot twists even now....

From Literature

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.