beef up
phrasal verb
beefed up; beefing up; beefs up
informal
: to add weight, strength, or power to (something)
Security around the city will be beefed up during the event.
a politician looking to beef his image up
Examples of beef up in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The proposal would also beef up Huntsville’s current law on using cell phones while driving – which only outlaws sending or receiving digital message such as emails or text messages.
—
Paul Gattis | Pgattis@al.com, al, 13 Sep. 2023
Italy is also beefing up its rail offerings to encourage tourists to travel more sustainably.
—Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 Sep. 2023
Multiple government agencies have committed $800,000 to help bankroll an effort to beef up unarmed private security patrols throughout an area crammed with struggling hotels.
—oregonlive, 1 Sep. 2023
The agency is also working on a heat risk prevention rule that would beef up enforcement, but that will take years to go into effect.
—Adiel Kaplan, NBC News, 1 Sep. 2023
In May 2022, the SEC beefed up its crypto assets and cyber enforcement unit, listing NFTs as an area of interest.
—Elizabeth Lopatto, The Verge, 28 Aug. 2023
It may be beefed up a bit to help with towing and payload capacity.
—Joey Capparella, Car and Driver, 25 Aug. 2023
Several European countries, including Spain and the Czech Republic, have announced taxes on banks’ windfall profits in the past year as interest rate hikes by central banks have beefed up many lenders’ earnings.
—Anna Cooban, CNN, 9 Aug. 2023
The Ravens also brought in receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Nelson Agholor to beef up the passing game.
—Mike Preston, Baltimore Sun, 31 Aug. 2023
See More
Paul Gattis | Pgattis@al.com, al, 13 Sep. 2023
Italy is also beefing up its rail offerings to encourage tourists to travel more sustainably.
—Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 7 Sep. 2023
Multiple government agencies have committed $800,000 to help bankroll an effort to beef up unarmed private security patrols throughout an area crammed with struggling hotels.
—oregonlive, 1 Sep. 2023
The agency is also working on a heat risk prevention rule that would beef up enforcement, but that will take years to go into effect.
—Adiel Kaplan, NBC News, 1 Sep. 2023
In May 2022, the SEC beefed up its crypto assets and cyber enforcement unit, listing NFTs as an area of interest.
—Elizabeth Lopatto, The Verge, 28 Aug. 2023
It may be beefed up a bit to help with towing and payload capacity.
—Joey Capparella, Car and Driver, 25 Aug. 2023
Several European countries, including Spain and the Czech Republic, have announced taxes on banks’ windfall profits in the past year as interest rate hikes by central banks have beefed up many lenders’ earnings.
—Anna Cooban, CNN, 9 Aug. 2023
The Ravens also brought in receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Nelson Agholor to beef up the passing game.
—Mike Preston, Baltimore Sun, 31 Aug. 2023
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'beef up.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Articles Related to beef up
Dictionary Entries Near beef up
Cite this Entry
“Beef up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beef%20up. Accessed 23 Sep. 2023.
Copy Citation
More from Merriam-Webster on beef up
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share