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

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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]

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Example Sentences

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

Principal characters like Ventimiglia will typically do up to 120 poses — all to make sure the nuances of someone’s face are captured.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 14, 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

“He’s going to get better every week as long as we’re doing what we’ve got to do up front to open up some holes for him,” right tackle Tytus Howard said.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 2, 2022

“What you goin to do up thereT “Startin’ new,” said Silly.

From "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury