(usually foll by up) to move (an animal, esp a horse) ahead; urge on
(foll by up) to encourage (someone) to greater effort or activity
First recorded in 1620–30; origin uncertain
1890–95, euphemism for Jesus
First recorded in 1690–1700; origin uncertain
First recorded in 1935–40; spelling of the letter G, abbreviation for grand (in the sense “thousand dollars”)
First recorded in 1940–45; originally abbreviation for ground electronics engineering
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"It was like they wanted to do something, but then really didn't put the effort into it and then said, gee, it didn't work," she told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jan. 31, 2026
“It’s like, well gee, I mean, I don’t even know where to start.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 15, 2025
“And then when the finance company says, ‘Oh, gee, sorry, we can’t actually get the loan on those terms, could you sign some worse terms?’
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 27, 2025
“Well, gee, it must be him, because this is a chronicle of his crimes,” Orr said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 29, 2025
Karli was leading Marlene by her trunk, making his usual clicking noises and telling her to gee up, just like he had always done with Tomi back on Uncle Manfred’s farm.
From "An Elephant in the Garden" by Michael Morpurgo
District Judge Dolly M. Gee scolded a pair of government attorneys from her bench in Los Angeles, signaling she would probably appoint a new special master to force compliance with the settlement agreement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
Gee, thanks—not much different than popping up after flopping on the soccer pitch.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
You can't talk about Desmond Armstrong without mention of Jimmy Banks - or "Gee" as Armstrong affectionately calls him.
From BBC ● Jun. 6, 2026
“That’s certainly what I try to do. … Why should we be thinking about, Gee, European countries don’t have this?”
From Slate ● Apr. 1, 2026
Only a few Gee Bee’s were built, and they must have been very tricky to fly; eventually they all crashed.
From "Flying to the Moon: An Astronaut's Story" by Michael Collins
"It's about finding out what makes people tick, what motivates them. "People such as Ian Botham were good when you geed them up.
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2015
"It's great credit to the managers down there who have really responded to the threat of relegation and geed their teams up. It's going to be a grandstand finish."
From BBC ● May 9, 2015
A giant owl mascot geed up the crowd.
From Reuters ● Mar. 24, 2014
He said he doesn't know he does it, and said: 'That's just the way I play and I have to shout to get myself geed up for a game.'
From The Guardian ● Mar. 23, 2011
Adam geed his oxen around, and struck for her agin; an so he kept on all day.
From Letters of Major Jack Downing, of the Downingville Militia by Smith, Seba
Konstas was unruffled, smashing Bumrah for 18 in the next over and geeing up the crowd to keep up the noise, before reaching his fifty with two off Siraj.
From BBC ● Dec. 26, 2024
Eager to work on issues such as attention span, Williams turns guinea pig, submitting to magnetic brain stimulation to achieve better focus, geeing up creativity by means of electrodes over her prefrontal cortex, and more.
From Nature ● Jan. 24, 2017
But Serena Williams is geeing herself up after winning the second set 7-5, Stephens wafting a slice long.
From The Guardian ● Jun. 1, 2015
The main value of celebrity campaigners is in geeing up the flagging activists who really get out the vote.
From Economist ● Apr. 23, 2015
Asteead o’ geeing t’brass t’ poor, It’s shocking fer to tell, They’ll hardly let em into t’door— I knaw it be mesel.
From Random Rhymes and Rambles by Wright, William Aldis
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.
