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mount up

B1 neutral intransitive
In simple words

Get bigger and bigger over time, especially when you're not paying attention.

Literal meaning: To move upward onto something — literally climbing onto a horse or raised surface.

Meanings

1 B1 neutral

To increase gradually and steadily, especially to an amount that becomes difficult to ignore or manage.

"If you don't deal with your emails every day, they really start to mount up."

"The debts were mounting up and he had no way to pay them."

— Charles Dickens, David Copperfield, 1850
2 B2 neutral

(Literal) To climb onto a horse or other animal in preparation for riding.

"She mounted up and galloped across the field before anyone could stop her."

Usage notes

Very commonly used for debts, costs, pressure, tension, and problems. Usually carries a sense of concern — things are mounting up in a way that will soon be hard to manage. Also has a literal sense of climbing onto a horse.

Commonly used with

debts costs bills pressure evidence problems

Forms

Base
mount up
I/you/we/they
3rd person
mounts up
he/she/it
Past simple
mounted up
yesterday
Past participle
mounted up
have + pp
-ing form
mounting up
continuous

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