buck up
Britishverb
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to make or cause to make haste
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to make or become more cheerful, confident, etc
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Bernard DeVoto once tried to buck up his friend Catherine Drinker Bowen, who was wavering between a career in history and one in music.
She, too, had a strong inclination to tell Lord Fredrick to buck up and look on the bright side.
From Literature
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Somehow, the sight of those stoic palace guards made her buck up a bit, with their imperturbable faces and brave fur hats.
From Literature
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The pair were told to buck up their ideas by the referee as they began talking to each other during the middle of the rounds.
From BBC
What’s continued to set the Fosters apart is their work bucking up evacuees and neighbors.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.