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• beef-up
  beef-up

  noun

  an act or instance of strengthening or reinforcing.
• 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]

beef-up

American  

[beef-uhp] / ˈbifˌʌp /

noun

1. an act or instance of strengthening or reinforcing.

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beef up Idioms  

1. 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]

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Etymology

Origin of beef-up

Noun use of verb phrase beef up

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

beef-up beef up

RBS may offload an additional 25% stake in Citizens by March 2015 in order to beef-up its balance sheet.

From Forbes ● Sep. 25, 2014

Last week Menzies carried the beef-up further, announced the reinstatement of the draft, which had been dropped in 1959.

From Time Magazine Archive

At London's Heathrow Airport, travelers report that the beef-up can add 20 minutes to the already lengthy process of clearing security, while at New York City's Kennedy International Airport, extra police are on duty.

From Time Magazine Archive

If that were really the issue, the government could beef up the corps of asylum officers and strengthen the system.

From Slate ● Jul. 28, 2026

Officials said they were in touch with park officials and would beef up police presence.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 11, 2026

The company has also been working to beef up its AI security offerings and recently announced its intent to acquire data security vendor Symmetry Systems for an undisclosed amount.

From Barron's ● Jun. 1, 2026

In 1934, company president and majority owner John Evans Laird sold a minority stake to outside investors to beef up facilities and equipment.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 10, 2026

“Surely breaking a rule once in a while is tolerable, especially if you’re doing it to beef up your skills for the Republic’s sake. Victory against the Colonies. Right?”

From "Legend" by Marie Lu