tune-up

[ toon-uhp, tyoon- ]

noun

1. an adjustment, as of a motor, to improve working order or condition:

   The car needs a tune-up badly.

2. Informal. a preparatory activity or warm-up, as before a contest or game:

   The track meet served as a tune-up for the Olympics.

tune up

verb

1. to adjust (a musical instrument) to a particular pitch, esp a standard one
2. (esp of an orchestra or other instrumental ensemble) to tune (instruments) to a common pitch
3. tr to adjust (an engine) in (a car, etc) to improve performance

noun

1. adjustments made to an engine to improve its performance

Word History and Origins

Origin of tune-up¹

First recorded in 1945–50; noun use of verb phrase tune up

Idioms and Phrases

Adjust machinery so it is in proper condition, as in I took the car in to be tuned up . [Early 1900s]

Example Sentences

The health-care system is broken and in need of an overhaul, not a tune-up.

From The Daily Beast

The pale dawn was beginning to peer into the windows, and the birds to tune up in broken chirrupings for the songs of the day.

From Project Gutenberg

I thought it might be a good way to tune up for the afternoon whirl, without breaking my word to mother.

From Project Gutenberg

Then comes a strikingly realistic passage where Death attempts to tune up his fiddle, as he is to furnish the music for the dance.

From Project Gutenberg

The repetition of this passage at intervals throughout the composition suggests occasional hasty and ill-timed efforts to tune up.

From Project Gutenberg

Death again attempts to tune up his fiddle, with frenzied haste, and the dance grows in speed and impetuous power.

From Project Gutenberg