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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
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Estonia's Defense Ministry said the country, which shares a roughly 200-mile border with Russia, needed to beef up its ability to strike deep into enemy territory with more rocket launchers. Matthew Robinson, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Nov. 2025 When the decision, early on, was made to split the Broadway musical into two movies, one of the things Chu focused on was beefing up his and our understanding of Glinda’s bubble. Chris O'Falt, IndieWire, 25 Nov. 2025 So, the developer beefed up the walls and flooring to meet higher standards and applied to switch the project away from rentals. Mark Dee, Idaho Statesman, 15 Nov. 2025 The channel has had to beef up its newsgathering across politics, foreign policy and investigations, and has supplemented that with partnerships, including with Sky News for international coverage. Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 10 Nov. 2025 See All Example Sentences for beef up

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Cite this Entry

“Beef up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beef%20up. Accessed 30 Nov. 2025.

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