To Ascend
To Rise
intransitive verb, godan verb
Because the hiragana ends with an う sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means ascend so the verb vocab version must be to ascend, or to rise.
昇る is commonly used to talk about things like the sun and the moon rising, or smoke rising from a fire.
The reading is the kun'yomi reading, but it's pretty easy. How do you read all the other "to climb" words? 登る is one example. 上る is another. They're all のぼる, and so is this. Unlike the other climbing words, though, this suggests there's no effort involved. That's why you're "ascending" and not climbing, because climbing is a bit of work.
大丈夫。日はまた昇るさ。
You'll be alright. The sun will rise again.
遠くの方に、細長い煙が空に昇っていくのが見えました。
In the distance, we saw a long, thin plume of smoke rising into the sky.
私は天にも昇る気持ちで、大学からの合格通知を何度も読み直した。
I felt like I was ascending to heaven as I read my college acceptance letter over and over.