pump up
Idioms-
Inflate with gas or air, as in This tire needs pumping up . [Late 1800s]
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Fill with enthusiasm, strength, and energy, as in The lively debate pumped us all up . Mary Wollstonecraft used this idiom in slightly different form in The Rights of Women (1792): “Lover-like phrases of pumped-up passion.”
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.
The energy sector, for instance, outpaces the broad market as measured by the S&P 500 — as would be expected, since higher prices pump up the bottom lines of oil and gas producers.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 10, 2026
But you should be strategic, not frantic, when trying to pump up your AI bona fides, writes Callum Borchers.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 11, 2026
These rules allow employees to seriously pump up their retirement savings, specifically by converting those after-tax savings to Roth dollars through the three-step megabackdoor Roth strategy.
From MarketWatch • Nov. 24, 2025
On Sunday, Chelsea supporters again booed players who passed the ball backwards and, after Cucurella's goal, Maresca turned to supporters and told them to pump up the volume.
From BBC • Mar. 9, 2025
Humans are, of course, vastly more complicated; even in situations of extreme subordination, we can pump up our self-esteem with thoughts of our families, our religion, our hopes for the future.
From "Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America" by Barbara Ehrenreich
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.
