power up

British

verb

(tr, adverb) to switch on the power to (a computer system)
to begin to make good use of or take full advantage of

"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

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.

Now those plans are on hold as her budget is eaten up buying petrol to power up generators to run her sewing machines after fuel prices jumped about 20 percent in Africa's most populous country.

From Barron's • Mar. 20, 2026

"Do I believe in our partners and Honda's ability to bring that power up and to be competitive? Absolutely. They have a proven track record, and we have total faith."

From BBC • Mar. 5, 2026

Lopez started hemorrhaging soon after the baby was delivered but anesthesiologist Michael Sanchez and his team were able to power up a special machine to deliver blood quickly, according to the release.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 12, 2025

CoreWeave Chief Executive Michael Intrator shared in a Bloomberg interview last month that the company had secured 2.8 gigawatts of contracted power, up 600 megawatts from the second quarter.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 9, 2025

It's lunch hour, so I throw on sweats and power up the treadmill in my office suite.

From "How It Went Down" by Kekla Magoon

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023