square up
phrasal verb
squared up; squaring up; squares up
: to turn so that one is facing something or someone directly
She squared up (with/to the basket) for a three-point shot.
They squared up for a fight.
Examples of square up in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Before any of that becomes a possibility, though, TikTok and the Biden administration will be squaring up in court, where arguments over balancing free speech with national security could take years to finally resolve.
—
Bobby Allyn, NPR, 22 Apr. 2024
Arkansas had trouble squaring up the gangly lefty Zach Erdman, who wriggled out of jams in the second and fourth innings by allowing just one run despite having five runners on base.
—Tom Murphy, arkansasonline.com, 17 Apr. 2024
The shouting man seems delighted with the challenge, squaring up.
—Michael Wilson, New York Times, 17 Mar. 2024
Serve these squares up on Easter Sunday to save yourself time and effort stacking and frosting a layer cake.
—Southern Living Editors, Southern Living, 2 Feb. 2024
During a season in which a tireless Athletic side has only tasted a home defeat against Real Madrid, the region’s best will square up against something similarly intensive in Bielsa and Uruguay.
—Henry Flynn, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2024
Clearly annoyed by Sané’s efforts to grab the ball, Bjelica then pushed the forward in the face as the pair squared up to each other on the sideline.
—Ben Church, CNN, 29 Jan. 2024
In both games, your four heroes square up against up to four enemies.
—Aaron Zimmerman, Ars Technica, 8 May 2023
This conditional release policy requires its patients to square up their bills in full once treatment is completed.
—Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 20 Apr. 2023
Bobby Allyn, NPR, 22 Apr. 2024
Arkansas had trouble squaring up the gangly lefty Zach Erdman, who wriggled out of jams in the second and fourth innings by allowing just one run despite having five runners on base.
—Tom Murphy, arkansasonline.com, 17 Apr. 2024
The shouting man seems delighted with the challenge, squaring up.
—Michael Wilson, New York Times, 17 Mar. 2024
Serve these squares up on Easter Sunday to save yourself time and effort stacking and frosting a layer cake.
—Southern Living Editors, Southern Living, 2 Feb. 2024
During a season in which a tireless Athletic side has only tasted a home defeat against Real Madrid, the region’s best will square up against something similarly intensive in Bielsa and Uruguay.
—Henry Flynn, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2024
Clearly annoyed by Sané’s efforts to grab the ball, Bjelica then pushed the forward in the face as the pair squared up to each other on the sideline.
—Ben Church, CNN, 29 Jan. 2024
In both games, your four heroes square up against up to four enemies.
—Aaron Zimmerman, Ars Technica, 8 May 2023
This conditional release policy requires its patients to square up their bills in full once treatment is completed.
—Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 20 Apr. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'square 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 square up
Cite this Entry
“Square up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/square%20up. Accessed 2 May. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share