What does "raise" mean?
Raise: 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.
Additional senses
- 2.(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.
- 3.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.
- 4.3. 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.
- 5.(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. Note: 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.
- 6.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.
- 7.(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.
- 8.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.
- 9.(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.
- 10.(Law) To create or constitute; as, to raise a use that is, to create it. Burrill. To raise a blockade (Mil.), to remove or break up a blockade, either by withdrawing the ships or forces employed in enforcing it, or by driving them away or dispersing them. -- To raise a check, note, bill of exchange, etc., to increase fraudulently its nominal value by changing the writing, figures, or printing in which the sum payable is specified. -- To raise a siege, to relinquish an attempt to take a place by besieging it, or to cause the attempt to be relinquished. -- To raise steam, to produce steam of a required pressure. -- To raise the wind, to procure ready money by some temporary expedient. [Colloq.] -- To raise Cain, or To raise the devil, to cause a great disturbance; to make great trouble. [Slang]
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00