(tr) to make an assessment of (a person, problem, etc)
to conform to or make so as to conform to certain specifications of dimension
Noun use of verb phrase size up
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“I’m not trying to size-up against other players,” Adell added.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2023
But perhaps most importantly, he needs to size-up the client.
From BBC ● Feb. 13, 2014
Having collected her facts about Evita, Fleur said that they only confirmed her first intuitive size-up.
From Time Magazine Archive
John F. Kennedy wanted a size-up, not a summit.
From Time Magazine Archive
Therefore teach yourself to observe without seeming to look closely at the object of your size-up.
From Certain Success by Hawkins, Norval A.
The Wall Street Journal plunked down $1,300 so I could size up the new Miami outpost, a 34,000-square-foot temple to luxury travel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026
As America celebrates 250 years, we size up how it’s been portrayed in, and has shaped, what we watch, listen to and read.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
As scientists’ understanding of these tipping points improves—and emissions continue—investors and companies are beginning to size up the implications.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026
The world's biggest car show opens Friday in Beijing, with hundreds of thousands of auto fans expected to descend on the Chinese capital to size up the latest sleek, teched-out models on the market.
From Barron's ● Apr. 24, 2026
Within a few days, Joe had mastered the froe and the mallet and could size up a log and split shakes from it nearly as quickly and decisively as Charlie could.
From "The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics" by Daniel James Brown
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.
