raise Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the amount a salary is increased
    wage hike; hike; rise; salary increase; wage increase.
    • he got a 3% raise
    • he got a wage hike
  2. noun an upward slope or grade (as in a road)
    acclivity; upgrade; rise; climb; ascent.
    • the car couldn't make it up the rise
  3. noun increasing the size of a bet (as in poker)
    • I'll see your raise and double it
  4. noun the act of raising something
    lift; heave.
    • he responded with a lift of his eyebrow
    • fireman learn several different raises for getting ladders up
  5. verb raise the level or amount of something
    • raise my salary
    • raise the price of bread
  6. verb raise from a lower to a higher position
    elevate; get up; lift; bring up.
    • Raise your hands
    • Lift a load
  7. verb cause to be heard or known; express or utter
    • raise a shout
    • raise a protest
    • raise a sad cry
  8. verb collect funds for a specific purpose
    • The President raised several million dollars for his college
  9. verb cultivate by growing, often involving improvements by means of agricultural techniques
    farm; produce; grow.
    • The Bordeaux region produces great red wines
    • They produce good ham in Parma
    • We grow wheat here
    • We raise hogs here
  10. verb bring up
    parent; nurture; bring up; rear.
    • raise a family
    • bring up children
  11. verb summon into action or bring into existence, often as if by magic
    arouse; invoke; conjure up; bring up; call down; call forth; evoke; put forward; stir; conjure.
    • raise the specter of unemployment
    • he conjured wild birds in the air
    • call down the spirits from the mountain
  12. verb move upwards
    lift.
    • lift one's eyes
  13. verb construct, build, or erect
    set up; put up; rear; erect.
    • Raise a barn
  14. verb call forth (emotions, feelings, and responses)
    fire; enkindle; elicit; arouse; evoke; kindle; provoke.
    • arouse pity
    • raise a smile
    • evoke sympathy
  15. verb create a disturbance, especially by making a great noise
    • raise hell
    • raise the roof
    • raise Cain
  16. verb raise in rank or condition
    elevate; lift.
    • The new law lifted many people from poverty
  17. verb increase
    enhance; heighten.
    • This will enhance your enjoyment
    • heighten the tension
  18. verb give a promotion to or assign to a higher position
    advance; upgrade; kick upstairs; elevate; promote.
    • John was kicked upstairs when a replacement was hired
    • Women tend not to advance in the major law firms
    • I got promoted after many years of hard work
  19. verb cause to puff up with a leaven
    prove; leaven.
    • unleavened bread
  20. verb bid (one's partner's suit) at a higher level
  21. verb bet more than the previous player
  22. verb cause to assemble or enlist in the military
    levy; recruit.
    • raise an army
    • recruit new soldiers
  23. verb put forward for consideration or discussion
    bring up.
    • raise the question of promotions
    • bring up an unpleasant topic
  24. verb pronounce (vowels) by bringing the tongue closer to the roof of the mouth
    • raise your `o'
  25. verb activate or stir up
    • raise a mutiny
  26. verb establish radio communications with
    • They managed to raise Hanoi last night
  27. verb multiply (a number) by itself a specified number of times: 8 is 2 raised to the power 3
  28. verb bring (a surface or a design) into relief and cause to project
    • raised edges
  29. verb invigorate or heighten
    lift.
    • lift my spirits
    • lift his ego
  30. verb put an end to
    lift.
    • lift a ban
    • raise a siege
  31. verb cause to become alive again
    resurrect; upraise.
    • raise from the dead
    • Slavery is already dead, and cannot be resurrected
    • Upraising ghosts

WordNet

Raise transitive verb
Etymology
OE. reisen, Icel. reisa, causative of risa to rise. See Rise, and cf. Rear to raise.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Raised ; present participle & verbal noun Raising
Definitions
  1. To cause to rise; to bring from a lower to a higher place; to lift upward; to elevate; to heave; as, to raise a stone or weight. Hence, figuratively: -- (a) To bring to a higher condition or situation; to elevate in rank, dignity, and the like; to increase the value or estimation of; to promote; to exalt; to advance; to enhance; as, to raise from a low estate; to raise to office; to raise the price, and the like.
    This gentleman came to be raised to great titles. Clarendon.
    The plate pieces of eight were raised three pence in the piece. Sir W. Temple.
    (b) To increase the strength, vigor, or vehemence of; to excite; to intensify; to invigorate; to heighten; as, to raise the pulse; to raise the voice; to raise the spirits or the courage; to raise the heat of a furnace. (c) To elevate in degree according to some scale; as, to raise the pitch of the voice; to raise the temperature of a room.
  2. To cause to rise up, or assume an erect position or posture; to set up; to make upright; as, to raise a mast or flagstaff. Hence: -- (a) To cause to spring up from recumbent position, from a state of quiet, or the like; to awaken; to arouse.
    They shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep. Job xiv. 12.
    (b) To rouse to action; to stir up; to incite to tumult, struggle, or war; to excite.
    He commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind. Ps. cvii. 25.
    Æneas . . . employs his pains, In parts remote, to raise the Tuscan swains. Dryden.
    (c) To bring up from the lower world; to call up, as a spirit from the world of spirits; to recall from death; to give life to.
    Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead ? Acts xxvi. 8.
  3. To cause to arise, grow up, or come into being or to appear; to give to; to originate, produce, cause, effect, or the like. Hence, specifically: -- (a) To form by the accumulation of materials or constituent parts; to build up; to erect; as, to raise a lofty structure, a wall, a heap of stones.
    I will raise forts against thee. Isa. xxxix. 3.
    (b) To bring together; to collect; to levy; to get together or obtain for use or service; as, to raise money, troops, and the like. "To raise up a rent." Chaucer. (c) To cause to grow; to procure to be produced, bred, or propagated; to grow; as, to raise corn, barley, hops, etc.; toraise cattle. "He raised sheep." "He raised wheat where none grew before." Johnson's Dict. ✍ In some parts of the United States, notably in the Southern States, raise in also commonly applied to the rearing or bringing up of children.
    I was raised, as they say in Virginia, among the mountains of the North. Paulding.
    (d) To bring into being; to produce; to cause to arise, come forth, or appear; -- often with up.
    I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee. Deut. xviii. 18.
    God vouchsafes to raise another world From him [Noah], and all his anger to forget. Milton.
    (e) To give rise to; to set agoing; to occasion; to start; to originate; as, to raise a smile or a blush.
    Thou shalt not raise a false report. Ex. xxiii. 1.
    (f) To give vent or utterance to; to utter; to strike up.
    Soon as the prince appears, they raise a cry. Dryden.
    (g) To bring to notice; to submit for consideration; as, to raise a point of order; to raise an objection.
  4. To cause to rise, as by the effect of leaven; to make light and spongy, as bread.
    Miss Liddy can dance a jig, and raise paste. Spectator.
  5. (Naut.) (a) To cause (the land or any other object) to seem higher by drawing nearer to it; as, to raise Sandy Hook light. (b) To let go; as in the command, Raise tacks and sheets, i. e., Let go tacks and sheets.
  6. (Law) To create or constitute; as, to raise a use that is, to create it. Burrill. Syn. -- To lift; exalt; elevate; erect; originate; cause; produce; grow; heighten; aggravate; excite.

Webster 1913