do up

British  

verb

1. to wrap and make into a bundle

   to do up a parcel

2. to cause the downfall of (a person)

3. to beautify or adorn

4. (also intr) to fasten or be fastened

   this skirt does up at the back

5. informal to renovate or redecorate

6. slang to assault

---

do up Idioms  

1. Fasten up or put up; also, dress up. For example, Let's do up all the gifts in matching paper , or Please help me do up the collar button , or Jane did up her hair for the dance , or The children were all done up in their best outfits . [c. 1800]

2. . Do something thoroughly or very well, as in They really did it up brown for the dinner party . The allusion here is unclear, but it may be to wrapping a package in brown paper. [Mid-1800s]

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

do up

One driver told the BBC his firm would do up to 15 drop-offs daily from a hotel in south-east London to a doctors surgery around two miles away.

From BBC ● Feb. 4, 2026

We can do up to three miles together, and then she’s very, very happy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 13, 2025

As they say, Blinken is on a high wire right now—and he’s got a lot of balancing to do up there.

From Slate ● Oct. 27, 2023

“Some of the things that they do up front with their line movement, stuff like that is pretty good,” he said.

From Washington Times ● Dec. 26, 2022

LeAlan: But what’s Shorty gonna do up there?

From "Our America: Life and Death on the South Side of Chicago" by LeAlan Jones