raise
verb/reɪz/
/reɪz/
Verb Forms
Idioms Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they raise | /reɪz/ /reɪz/ |
| he / she / it raises | /ˈreɪzɪz/ /ˈreɪzɪz/ |
| past simple raised | /reɪzd/ /reɪzd/ |
| past participle raised | /reɪzd/ /reɪzd/ |
| -ing form raising | /ˈreɪzɪŋ/ /ˈreɪzɪŋ/ |
- raise something to lift or move something to a higher level
- She raised the gun and fired.
- He raised a hand in greeting.
- She raised her eyes from her work.
- raise something up He slowly raised his head up.
Homophones raise | rays | razeraise rays raze/reɪz//reɪz/- raise verb
- Raise your hand if you know the answer.
- raise noun
- You work so hard, you deserve a raise!
- rays noun (plural of ray)
- Rays of sunlight streamed through the window.
- raze verb
- They used bulldozers to raze entire neighbourhoods.
Which Word? rise / raiserise / raiseVerbssee also curtain-raiser- Raise is a verb that must have an object and rise is used without an object. When you raise something, you lift it to a higher position or increase it:
- He raised his head from the pillow.
- We were forced to raise the price.
- When people or things rise, they move from a lower to a higher position:
- She rose from the chair.
- The helicopter rose into the air.
- Costs are always rising.
- The noun rise means a movement upwards or an increase in an amount or quantity:
- a rise in interest rates.
- Should I ask my boss for a rise?
- a three per cent pay raise.
- his dramatic rise to power.
Definitions on the go
Look up any word in the dictionary offline, anytime, anywhere with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.
- to move somebody/something/yourself to a standing, sitting or vertical position
- raise somebody/something/yourself + adv./prep. Somehow we managed to raise her to her feet.
- He raised himself up on one elbow.
- raise somebody/something The security man raised the barrier for me.
- to increase the amount or level of something
- raise something to raise prices/taxes
- We need to raise public awareness of the issue.
- How can we raise standards in schools?
- raise something to something They raised their offer to $500.
- Don't tell her about the job until you know for sure—we don't want to raise her hopes (= make her hope too much).
- I've never heard him even raise his voice (= speak louder because he was angry).
Extra ExamplesTopics Change, cause and effectb1- They are threatening to raise fuel prices by 10%.
- The government has promised not to raise taxes.
- The campaign aims to raise awareness of domestic abuse.
- raise something to bring or collect money or people together; to manage to get or form something
- We are raising money for charity.
- They are holding a quiz to help raise funds for the club.
- The event raised over £30 000 for cancer research.
- He set about raising an army.
Extra ExamplesTopics Moneyb1, Social issuesb1- He needed to raise a loan in order to set up in business.
- to help raise money for the repair of the stadium
- The hospital is trying to raise funds for a new kidney machine.
- The sale raised over £3 000 for charity.
- raise something to mention something for people to discuss or somebody to deal with synonym broach
- The book raises many important questions.
- I'm glad you raised the subject of money.
- I have raised this issue with the environmental health office.
- Local residents have raised concerns about late-night noise.
- You raise some interesting points.
- raise something to cause or produce a feeling or reaction
- to raise doubts in people’s minds
- The plans for the new development have raised angry protests from local residents.
- It wasn't an easy audience but he raised a laugh with his joke.
- It had been a difficult day but she managed to raise a smile.
- raise something to make something happen or appear
- She raised the alarm when he failed to return home.
- The horses' hooves raised a cloud of dust.
- (especially North American English) to care for a child or young animal until it is able to take care of itself
- raise somebody/something She raised five children on her own.
- They were both raised in the South.
- kids raised on a diet of hamburgers
- raise somebody/something (as) something They raised her (as) a Catholic.
- I was born and raised a city boy.
- raise something to breed (= keep and produce young from) particular farm animals; to grow particular crops
- Farmers cleared the land in order to raise cattle.
- They raise wheat, soya beans and alfalfa on 460 acres.
- raise something to end the limits on somebody/something
- to raise a blockade/ban/siege
- raise somebody to contact somebody and speak to them by radio or phone
- We managed to raise him on his mobile.
- raise somebody (from something) to make somebody who has died come to life again synonym resurrect
- Christians believe that God raised Jesus from the dead.
- raise somebody something to make a higher bet than another player in a card game
- I'll raise you another hundred dollars.
- raise something to the power of something to multiply an amount by itself a particular number of times
- 3 raised to the power of 3 is 27 (= 3 × 3 × 3).
- raise something (especially North American English) to build something
- Our priority will be to raise a boundary wall and prevent trespassing.
- raise something to create a document such as an invoice or a petition
- They have been raising a petition against the war.
move upwards
increase
collect money/people
mention subject
cause/produce
child/animal
farm animals/crops
end something
on radio/phone
dead person
in card games
mathematics
build
document
Word OriginMiddle English: from Old Norse reisa; related to the verb rear.
Idioms
See raise in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee raise in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic Englishmake somebody’s hackles rise | raise somebody’s hackles
- to make somebody angry
- Her controversial article is bound to raise hackles.
not lift/raise a finger/hand (to do something)
- (informal) to do nothing to help somebody
- The children never lift a finger to help around the house.
not raise/lift a finger/hand (to do something)
- (informal) to do nothing to help somebody
- The children never raised a finger to help around the house.
raise/up the ante
- to increase the level of something, especially your demands or the risks in a situation
- This year tournament organizers have upped the ante by offering record prize money for the top two teams.
raise the bar
- to set a new, higher standard of quality or performance
- The factory has raised the bar on productivity, food safety and quality.
- This latest computer game raises the bar for interface design.
- The awards go to people who have truly raised the bar.
- Perhaps the new admission requirements raised the bar too high.
raise your eyebrows (at something)
- [often passive] to show that you think something is bad or are surprised by something
- Eyebrows were raised when he arrived without his wife.
raise your glass (to somebody)
- to hold up your glass and wish somebody happiness, good luck, etc. before you drink
raise a/your hand against/to somebody
- to hit or threaten to hit somebody
raise hell
- (informal) to protest angrily, especially in a way that causes trouble for somebody
raise the roof
- to produce or make somebody produce a lot of noise in a building, for example by shouting or cheering
- Their cheers raised the roof.
raise/lower your sights
- to expect more/less from a situation
- If they can’t afford such a big house, they’ll just have to lower their sights a little.
- After failing to get into university, he lowered his sights and got a job in a shop.
raise somebody’s spirits
- to make somebody feel more cheerful or brave synonym cheer up
- The sunny weather raised my spirits a little.
raise/lower the temperature
- to increase/decrease the amount of excitement, emotion, etc. in a situation
- His angry refusal to agree raised the temperature of the meeting.
- The government tried to lower the political temperature by agreeing to some of the demands.
Check pronunciation:
raise