jack-up

[ jak-uhp ]

noun

, Informal.

1. an increase or rise:

   a recent jack-up in prices.

jack up

verb

1. tr to increase (prices, salaries, etc)
2. tr to raise an object, such as a car, with or as with a jack
3. slang.
   intr to inject oneself with a drug, usually heroin
4. informal.
   intr to refuse to comply; rebel, esp collectively
5. informal.
   to initiate, organize, or procure

noun

1. something that has been contrived or achieved by dishonest means

Word History and Origins

Origin of jack-up¹

1900–05, Americanism; noun use of verb phrase jack up

Idioms and Phrases

Raise or increase, as in The cartel is jacking up oil prices again . This term alludes to the literal meaning of jack up , that is, “hoist with a jack.” [ Colloquial ; c. 1900]

Example Sentences

So Hachette and the other publishers were all ears when Steve Jobs came a-calling with a surefire way to jack up e-book prices.

From The Daily Beast

One landlord even paid somebody to hurl a Molotov cocktail into an apartment just to smoke out tenants and jack up rents.

From The Daily Beast

But lack of sleep does more than just jack up your caffeine requirements the following day.

From The Daily Beast

The company also announced Tuesday that it would jack up its quarterly dividend by 26.7 percent, from 30 cents to 38 percent.

From The Daily Beast

It helps jack up the level of suspense during pretaped events, the outcome of which most viewers learned hours earlier on Twitter.

From The Daily Beast

It did not take Uncle Toby long to jack up the car, take off the tire, put in a new tube, and be ready to start again.

From Project Gutenberg

If we jack up that bonetrepannin, he called it toohis brainsd git to be like anybody elses.

From Project Gutenberg

I think I'll jack up our boys in the city room by hinting that there may be a shake-up coming under the new owner.

From Project Gutenberg

You can jack up the back part of an automobile when you could not possibly lift it up.

From Project Gutenberg

If we jack up that bone'—trepannin', he called it too—'his brains'd git to be like anybody else's.'

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• add to
• augment
• boost
• broaden
• build
• develop
• expand
• extend
• grow
• inflate
• lengthen
• magnify
• multiply
• swell
• widen