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, 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

In the area at the time were two wind farm crew transfer vessels and a tugboat towing a jack-up maintenance barge.

Read more on BBC

The fire broke out around midday Thursday on the jack-up oil rig in Sabine Pass, where the Texas-Louisiana border meets the Gulf of Mexico.

Read more on Seattle Times

While key decisions about ECB’s emergency stimulus are set for their December meeting, the recent jack-up in rate-hike expectations has traders looking for any clues from Thursday’s meeting.

Read more on Reuters

A jack-up vessel, it will be able to put down legs on the seafloor and then use hydraulic power to lift itself above the waves and create a secure working platform.

Read more on Washington Post

“You’re talking about crew boats, you’re talking about carrying equipment to these jack-up rigs, you’re talking about barges. And, you know, it could grow into many hundreds of jobs.”

Read more on Washington Post

Related Words

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