double up
Britishverb
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to bend or cause to bend in two
he doubled up with the pain
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(intr) to share a room or bed designed for one person, family, etc
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US and Canadian term: parlay. (intr) to use the winnings from one bet as the stake for another
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Bend over suddenly, as in pain or laughter. For example, She doubled up with a cramp . [Late 1800s]
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Share accommodations meant for one person, as in The hotel ran out of rooms, so we had to double up . [Late 1700s]
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.
They also might mistakenly double up on a medication if a mail-order pharmacy switches generic manufacturers and a drug begins coming in a different-colored pill that appears to be a different prescription.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 27, 2025
As if on cue, stomach cramps made me double up.
From Salon ● Dec. 3, 2025
“So if you have two of those, you double up on that.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2025
It is not clear how many people usually share a room, but Home Office minister Angela Eagle has previously said "people can double up or treble up" if rooms are big enough.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2025
The tunnel was low-ceilinged: They had had to double up to move through it nearly four years previously; now there was nothing for it but to crawl.
From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
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.
