sit up and take notice

verb

To start to pay attention suddenly.

Similar
prick up one's ears
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Meanings

verbsit up and take notice (third-person singular simple present sits up and takes notice, present participle sitting up and taking notice, simple past sat up and took notice, past participle sat up and taken notice)

present singular third person sits up and takes notice · participle present sitting up and taking notice · past sat up and took notice · participle past sat up and taken notice

  1. To start to pay attention suddenly.

    But when we streaked through Doncaster at all but a mile-a-minute, with a miraculously clear road, in no more than 37 min. 18 sec. from the York start, I began to sit up and take notice.

    1949 November and December, Cecil J. Allen, “British Locomotive Practice and Performance”, in Railway Magazine, page 365

    Synonyms: prick up one's ears

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo start to pay attention suddenly.

Similar
prick up one's ears
Cite this entry
APA

sit up and take notice. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sit%20up%20and%20take%20notice

MLA

“sit up and take notice.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sit%20up%20and%20take%20notice. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sit up and take notice,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sit%20up%20and%20take%20notice.

Source: sit up and take notice on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.