beef up
To strengthen or reinforceTo strengthen or reinforce; to add substance to.
» We must beef up our organization.
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
1 senses(slang)To strengthen or reinforce; to add substance to.
We need to beef up security around the airport.
- make strong or stronger
Examples
4 sentencesWe must beef up our organization.
The President says we must beef up our military forces.
ruПрезидент говорит, что мы должны укрепить наши вооруженные силы. — odexed
They'd better beef up their report or it won't be accepted.
deSie sollten ihren Bericht lieber aufpeppen, sonst wird er nicht akzeptiert. — samueldora
Security has been beefed up for the education minister's visit to the university because student protests are expected.
Origin
Originally college slang, from beef (“muscle-power”).Originally college slang, from beef (“muscle-power”).
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
beefs up, beefing up, beefed up, beefed up| Base form | beef up · to beef up |
|---|---|
| 3rd person singular | beefs up |
| Present participle | beefing up |
| Past simple | beefed up |
| Past participle | beefed up |
irregular
Phrasal verbs
2 phrasal verbsSynonyms
2 synonyms- make strong or stronger:strengthenfortify
Word family
4 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Phrasal verbs: introduction — Because it is a phrasal verb
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.