crank-up

[krangk-uhp]

noun

1. an act or instance of cranking up.

crank up

verb

1. to increase (loudness, output, etc)

   he cranked up his pace

2. to set in motion or invigorate

   news editors have to crank up tired reporters

3. (intr, adverb) to inject a narcotic drug

Word History and Origins

Origin of crank up¹

First recorded in 1905–10; noun use of verb phrase crank up

Idioms and Phrases

Get started, as in The theater season is cranking up with four benefit performances . This expression transfers the literal sense of crank , “operate a motor by turning a crank,” to starting any activity. [ Slang ; 1930s]

Stimulate or intensify one's efforts. For example, We've got to crank up enthusiasm for this new product , or Close to the election the campaign really cranked up . [ Slang ; mid-1900s]

Example Sentences

Borthwick's selections over the campaign have been getting more adventurous, but this was a crank-up of the curveball.

Read more on BBC

Mr. Cumella, who collects and repairs crank-up phonographs like Victrolas and has a collection of original Nora Bayes records, was hoping to add Ms. Bayes’s grave to a Woodlawn tour he conducts while using a portable antique turntable to play records of jazz and vaudeville greats at their grave sites.

Read more on New York Times

With Kaymer leading by a million shots and Fox taking over the broadcast next year, why not crank-up the zaniness a few notches?

Read more on Golf Digest

On Sundays, there was ballroom dancing around a crank-up gramophone.

Read more on New York Times

You can grab a seat on the lawn to hear live recitations, along with music from 1900-25 played on period crank-up phonographs by Michael Cumella, a k a MAC, the program’s regular host.

Read more on New York Times