beef up
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
On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is trying to beef up airport screening for Ebola.
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Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 27 May 2026
Security was beefed up at the hall, with guards and metal detectors stationed at every entrance and explosive-sniffing dogs patrolling the hallways.
—ABC News, 26 May 2026
These spillways also will be beefed up to increase water holding capacity.
—Bill Kearney, Sun Sentinel, 23 May 2026
The menu helped beef up repeat visits at Burger King in January even after the promotion ended, Kobza said.
—Los Angeles Times, 22 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for beef up
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Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 27 May 2026
Security was beefed up at the hall, with guards and metal detectors stationed at every entrance and explosive-sniffing dogs patrolling the hallways.
—ABC News, 26 May 2026
These spillways also will be beefed up to increase water holding capacity.
—Bill Kearney, Sun Sentinel, 23 May 2026
The menu helped beef up repeat visits at Burger King in January even after the promotion ended, Kobza said.
—Los Angeles Times, 22 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for beef up
Cite this Entry
“Beef up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beef%20up. Accessed 31 May. 2026.
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