1 A2 neutral
To collect leaves, grass, or debris with a rake, gathering them into a pile.
"Every Sunday in autumn, we'd spend the morning raking up leaves in the garden."
separable
rake up
B1 neutral separable transitive
To gather leaves with a rake; or to revive unpleasant memories, scandals, or events from the past.
In plain English
To gather up leaves with a rake, or to bring up something bad from the past that people had forgotten about.
What does "rake up" mean?
3 meanings, ordered from most common to least. Color-coded by CEFR level.
2 B1 idiomatic informal
To bring up unpleasant memories, old grievances, or embarrassing past events that had been forgotten.
"I wish the press would stop raking up that old story — it happened twenty years ago."
separable
3 B2 idiomatic informal
To gather or find something (people, information, support) from various places, often with effort.
"He raked up a few volunteers from the local community to help with the event."
separable
Literal vs figurative
Words literally mean
Using a rake to pull scattered leaves into a pile — gathering things up from the ground.
Actually means
To gather up leaves with a rake, or to bring up something bad from the past that people had forgotten about.
Usage tip
In the figurative sense, 'rake up' almost always implies that the thing being revived is negative or uncomfortable. Often used in journalism about political scandals. The literal garden sense is common and transparent.
Words that pair with "rake up"
Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.
past memories scandal leaves history grievances
How to conjugate "rake up"
The five tense forms you'll use most often.
Base
rake up
I/you/we/they
3rd person
rakes up
he/she/it
Past simple
raked up
yesterday
Past participle
raked up
have + pp
-ing form
raking up
continuous
Hear "rake up" in the wild
Listen to native speakers using "rake up" in real YouTube videos — click a clip to watch it on Looplines.
Keep exploring
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