spruce-up

[sproos-uhp]

noun

1. an act of cleaning up, refurbishing, renovating, or the like.

spruce up

verb

1. (adverb) to make (oneself, a person, or thing) smart and neat

Word History and Origins

Origin of spruce up¹

Noun use of verb phrase spruce up

Idioms and Phrases

Make neat and trim, as in She spruced up the chairs with new cushions. This idiom originated in the late 1500s as simply spruce but had acquired up by 1676.

Related Words

• dress up 
• fix up 
• primp 
• tidy