prop up
phrasal verb
propped up; propping up; props up
1
: to stop (something) from falling or slipping by placing something under or against it
We propped up the beams with long boards.
propped the plant stems up
2
: to give help, encouragement, or support to (someone)
His faith propped him up in times of crisis.
Examples of prop up in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The result, for me, was worth the temporary aches and sleeping propped up — and yes, even the money.
—
Patricia Tortolani, Allure, 3 Apr. 2024
The family of six sits on a lawn together, with former football wide receiver Eric Decker, 37, propping up son Denver Calloway, 7 weeks.
—Jordan Greene, Peoplemag, 1 Apr. 2024
That relentless consumption has invigorated the post-pandemic economy and propped up millions of service-sector jobs.
—Abha Bhattarai, Washington Post, 29 Mar. 2024
Jared Dillian, Lehman’s ex head ETF trader and a great macroeconomic thinker and writer, recently wrote about the effect of the US government’s spending on propping up the US GDP and inflating employment numbers, as the US’ state and local governments are hiring though growing US government debt.
—Brendan Ahern, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
The big guns had deep pockets to prop up yet another franchise.
—Ella Gonzales, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 25 Mar. 2024
Its white governors prop up one local Black politician—a powerless puppet who maintains his position through the energetic stuffing of ballot boxes.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 20 Mar. 2024
Home sellers behind multiple lawsuits against the NAR and several major brokerages argued that the trade group’s rules governing homes listed for sale on its affiliated Multiple Listing Services unfairly propped up agent commissions.
—Alex Veiga, The Christian Science Monitor, 18 Mar. 2024
As the situation deteriorated, John Pierpont Morgan, the American financier who founded what is now JPMorgan Chase, was eventually forced to call together a group of Wall Street’s best and brightest at the Morgan Library to help decide how to prop up the ailing economy and stock market.
—Bywill Daniel, Fortune, 17 Mar. 2024
Patricia Tortolani, Allure, 3 Apr. 2024
The family of six sits on a lawn together, with former football wide receiver Eric Decker, 37, propping up son Denver Calloway, 7 weeks.
—Jordan Greene, Peoplemag, 1 Apr. 2024
That relentless consumption has invigorated the post-pandemic economy and propped up millions of service-sector jobs.
—Abha Bhattarai, Washington Post, 29 Mar. 2024
Jared Dillian, Lehman’s ex head ETF trader and a great macroeconomic thinker and writer, recently wrote about the effect of the US government’s spending on propping up the US GDP and inflating employment numbers, as the US’ state and local governments are hiring though growing US government debt.
—Brendan Ahern, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
The big guns had deep pockets to prop up yet another franchise.
—Ella Gonzales, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 25 Mar. 2024
Its white governors prop up one local Black politician—a powerless puppet who maintains his position through the energetic stuffing of ballot boxes.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 20 Mar. 2024
Home sellers behind multiple lawsuits against the NAR and several major brokerages argued that the trade group’s rules governing homes listed for sale on its affiliated Multiple Listing Services unfairly propped up agent commissions.
—Alex Veiga, The Christian Science Monitor, 18 Mar. 2024
As the situation deteriorated, John Pierpont Morgan, the American financier who founded what is now JPMorgan Chase, was eventually forced to call together a group of Wall Street’s best and brightest at the Morgan Library to help decide how to prop up the ailing economy and stock market.
—Bywill Daniel, Fortune, 17 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'prop up.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near prop up
Cite this Entry
“Prop up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prop%20up. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
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