mug up

verb

(adverb) British slang to study (a subject) hard, esp for an exam

Word Origin

C19: of unknown origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Examples from the Web for mug up

Historical Examples

You always do mug-up the business when you try to do more than I tell you.
On the Track
Henry Lawson
Mug-up, to paint ones face, or dress specially with a view to impersonation.
The Slang Dictionary
John Camden Hotten
Most of the men lighted a pipe, and one or two took a 'mug-up' from the coffee-kettle.
The Boy With the U. S. Fisheries
Francis Rolt-Wheeler

mug up

Word Origin

Examples from the Web for mug up

Historical Examples

You always do mug-up the business when you try to do more than I tell you.

Mug-up, to paint ones face, or dress specially with a view to impersonation.

Most of the men lighted a pipe, and one or two took a 'mug-up' from the coffee-kettle.