boost

[boost]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR boost ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

to lift or raise by pushing from behind or below.

to advance or aid by speaking well of; promote: She always boosts her hometown.

to increase; raise: to boost prices; to boost the horsepower of the car by 20 percent.

Slang. to steal, especially to shoplift: Two typewriters were boosted from the office last night.

verb (used without object)

Slang. to engage in stealing, especially shoplifting.

noun

an upward shove or raise; lift.

an increase; rise: There's been a tremendous boost in food prices.

an act, remark, or the like, that helps one's progress, morale, efforts, etc.: His pep talk was the boost our team needed.

Origin of boost

1805–15, Americanism; perhaps Scots dialect boose (variant of pouss push) + (hoi)st

Synonyms for boost

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR boost ON THESAURUS.COM

7. hike, growth, upsurge, upswing, uptick.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for boost

breakthrough, upgrade, advance, addition, hike, rise, expansion, improvement, jump, lift, increment, aid, support, assistance, encourage, sustain, push, promote, heighten, raise

Examples from the Web for boost

Contemporary Examples of boost

Unz also notes that a higher minimum wage would discourage illegal immigration and boost consumer spending.
To Make Their Victory Durable, the GOP Must Fix the Minimum Wage
Dmitri Mehlhorn
November 6, 2014
Firstly, there's the offensive notion that New York needs an ad campaign to boost tourism.
New York Is Taylor Swift’s New Boyfriend
Amy Zimmerman
October 28, 2014
After plane loads of wheat seeds were sent to India in the 1960s, farmers there were able to boost production by a factor of four.
Growth Stocks
The Daily Beast
October 17, 2014
At a minimum it could boost the number of troops it has patrolling the 900-kilometer frontier, Yavuz told The Daily Beast.
Is NATO Ally Turkey Tacitly Fueling the ISIS War Machine?
Thomas Seibert
September 8, 2014
They use Ryan Braun, the 2011 National League MVP, as an example of how PEDs are supposed to boost numbers.
In Defense of A-Roid
Allen Barra
September 5, 2014

Historical Examples of boost

Of course, I was expecting something—a boost in salary, or something like that.
The Fortune Hunter
Louis Joseph Vance
Go easy on stakes because unless careful will boost the comein.
Mixed Faces
Roy Norton
And since I've left the San, I've looked forward to your letters to boost up my spirits.
The Straw
Eugene O'Neill
In that case, we will have to turn in and88 give the fellow what you Americans call a boost.
Wayside Courtships
Hamlin Garland
"Then you'll have to boost the buggy-wheels, that's all," answered Jim.
Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz
L. Frank Baum

British Dictionary definitions for boost

boost

noun

encouragement, improvement, or helpa boost to morale

an upward thrust or pushhe gave him a boost over the wall

an increase or risea boost in salary

a publicity campaign; promotion

the amount by which the induction pressure of a supercharged internal-combustion engine exceeds that of the ambient pressure

verb (tr)

to encourage, assist, or improveto boost morale

to lift by giving a push from below or behind

to increase or raiseto boost the voltage in an electrical circuit

to cause to rise; increaseto boost sales

to advertise on a big scale

to increase the induction pressure of (an internal-combustion engine) above that of the ambient pressure; supercharge

Word Origin for boost

C19: of unknown origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for boost

1815, literal and figurative, American English, of unknown origin. Related: Boosted; boosting. As a noun by 1825.

boost in Science

boost

[bōōst]

A linear map from one reference frame to another in which each coordinate is increased or decreased by an independent constant or linear function. A boost corresponds to a shift of the entire coordinate system without any rotation of its axes.