boost

verb \ ˈbüst \

|Updated on: 10 Jun 2018

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Examples: boost in a Sentence

Definition of boost

boosted; boosting; boosts

transitive verb

1 : to push or shove up from below

boosted him up over the fence

2 : increase, raise

plans to boost production

an extra holiday to boost morale

3 : to promote the cause or interests of : plug

a campaign to boost the new fashions

4 : to raise the voltage of or across (an electric circuit)

5 slang : steal, shoplift

intransitive verb

slang : shoplift

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See boost defined for kids

Examples of boost in a Sentence

She boosted the boy onto his father's shoulders.
boosted the child into her car seat

Recent Examples of boost from the Web

At its next meeting on June 13, the Fed is likely to hike rates for the second time this year and boost its key borrowing rate to 2%, up from 0% back in late 2008.

— adam shell, USA TODAY, "How to find best interest rates on CDs, savings accounts," 5 June 2018
Kevin Demet, attorney for the family members, said Nickel's order boosts the chances his clients will win the court case.

— mary spicuzza, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Financial adviser for Milwaukee man who lived like a hermit ordered to return $1 million," 5 June 2018
Other studies in Washington, D.C., and Durham County, N.C., however, have found that similar changes in records laws have boosted the employment of people with criminal backgrounds.

— katie johnston, BostonGlobe.com, "AG warns 21 employers they violated ban on asking about criminal convictions; 3 are fined," 5 June 2018
Studies released at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in recent days showed that a range of newer approaches, from immune-boosting drugs to treatments targeting genetic traits of tumors, can help patients.

— peter loftus, WSJ, "Research Yields Progress Against Lung Cancer," 4 June 2018
GitHub, which provides open-source code hosting services and has raised more than $100 million from investors, is among tech startups boosting demand for billboard space around Silicon Valley.

— polina marinova, Fortune, "Why Andreessen Horowitz Wrote GitHub’s First Big Check Back in 2012," 4 June 2018
Our next chance of rain will be Thursday and Friday into Saturday as a frontal boundary becomes stationary over our area, boosting humidity and triggering periods of showers and thunderstorms.

— tom skilling, chicagotribune.com, "Winds will shift, ushering in colder air Tuesday," 4 June 2018
During the 2012 election, he was credited with boosting President Barack Obama's campaign with a lengthy, but detailed, nominating speech at the Democratic National Convention that laid out why the President should be reelected.

— dan merica, CNN, "Bill Clinton's answer on Lewinsky shows why Democrats want distance in 2018," 4 June 2018
The aggressive drug-development plan is based on a belief that NKTR-214 boosts the efficacy of Bristol’s checkpoint inhibitor Opdivo.

— adam feuerstein, STAT, "A controversial ASCO presentation underscores risk Bristol, Nektar carry with experimental cancer drug," 3 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'boost.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of boost

of obscure origin

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1801

in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

See Words from the same year

boost Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of boost

lift, raise, rear, elevate, hoist, heave, boost mean to move from a lower to a higher place or position. lift usually implies exerting effort to overcome resistance of weight.