# raising

/ˈɹeɪzɪŋ/ (US) · /ɹˈeɪzɪŋ/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/raising
Updated: 2026-06-19

## Senses

### 1. lifting or increasing

verb · CEFR A2

the action of moving something to a higher position or increasing a level.

For teachers: the present participle of 'raise', denoting the act of elevating an object or increasing a quantity, level, or intensity.

- The workers are raising the heavy beams to the top of the new house.
- By raising the interest rates, the central bank hopes to curb inflation and stabilise the national currency over the next fiscal quarter.

### 2. nurturing children or animals

noun · CEFR B1

the process of looking after children or animals while they grow up.

For teachers: the act of nurturing, breeding, or providing sustenance and protection for a living thing from birth to maturity.

- The raising of healthy children requires a lot of patience and support.
- The successful raising of livestock in such an arid climate requires sophisticated irrigation and careful land management.

### 3. collecting money

noun · CEFR B2

the act of collecting or gathering money for a specific purpose.

For teachers: the process of soliciting or accumulating capital, typically for a charity, business venture, or political campaign.

- The charity focused on the raising of funds for the new hospital wing.
- The rapid raising of capital through private investors allowed the startup to expand its operations into international markets ahead of schedule.

### 4. linguistics: vowel change

noun · CEFR C2 · Technical

a change in a language where a vowel sound is produced with the tongue higher in the mouth.

For teachers: a phonological process or historical sound change in which a vowel becomes higher, involving a more elevated tongue position.

- The teacher explained how vowel raising changed the way people speak over centuries.
- The Great Vowel Shift involved the raising of long vowels, fundamentally altering the phonetic landscape of Middle English.

### 5. linguistics: moving a word

noun · CEFR C2 · Technical

moving a word from a small part of a sentence to the main part.

For teachers: a syntactic operation where an element from a subordinate clause is moved into a higher position in the matrix clause.

- In the sentence 'He seems to be happy', raising moves the subject to the start.
- Subject-to-subject raising is a common feature in English verbs like 'seem' and 'appear', where the embedded subject occupies the matrix subject position.

## Examples

- The government is raising taxes next year.
- The local charity is raising money to build a new playground for the community center.
- By raising the interest rates, the central bank hopes to curb inflation and stabilize the national currency after months of economic volatility.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.