beef-up
[ beef-uhp ]
/ ˈbifˌʌp /
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noun
an act or instance of strengthening or reinforcing.
QUIZ
QUIZ YOURSELF ON "WAS" VS. "WERE"!
Were you ready for a quiz on this topic? Well, here it is! See how well you can differentiate between the uses of "was" vs. "were" in this quiz.
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“Was” is used for the indicative past tense of “to be,” and “were” is only used for the subjunctive past tense.
Origin of beef-up
Noun use of verb phrase beef up
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022
How to use beef-up in a sentence
Other Idioms and Phrases with beef-up
beef up
Strengthen, reinforce, as in Mary wants us to beef up her part in the play. This phrase relies on an older slang sense of beef as “muscles” or “power.” [Colloquial; late 1800s]
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.