jack-up

1 of 2

noun

ˈjak-ˌəp 

: a drilling rig used in offshore drilling whose drilling platform is a barge from which legs are lowered to the bottom when over the drill site and which is raised above the water and supported on the legs to conduct drilling operations

jack up

2 of 2

verb

jacked up; jacking up; jacks up

transitive verb

1

: to move or lift (something, such as an automobile) with or as if with a jack (see jack entry 1 sense 3a)

She jacked up the car to change the tire.

He jacked up his shorts.

… steel rollers were situated at four points under the timber truss bridge, which had been jacked up above the temporary bridge.

—Civil Engineering

2

a

: to raise the level or amount of (something) : increase

jack up the price

Most loans still do carry a bevy of fees … all of which have been jacked up—in some cases doubled—over the past year.

—Fred R. Bleakley

The club jacked up cash prizes for the race to $514,000, almost double last year's purse.

—Kostya Kennedy

… the city's powerful economy has jacked up demand for dwellings.

—Ralph Bivens

b

: to increase (something) in intensity, scope, etc.

Jill [Gisvold] says she jacked up her training last fall "because I had some shake-ups in my life, and I found that running helped me deal with it."

—Bob Cooper

This Miami Vice rerun is a change-of-pace episode, with the comedy jacked up and the drama toned down.

—TV Guide

c

informal : to cause great excitement, enthusiasm, or energy in (someone)

Nothing jacks up a rabid sports fan more than visiting a modern sports bar armed with a high-tech viewing experience …

—Monterey County (California) Herald

With lead MC Will.I.Am and bandmates … bounding about the stage like aerobics instructors after a quadruple latte, the group jacked up the crowd with "Let's Get It Started" and its current single, "Don't Phunk With My Heart."

—Dan DeLuca

3

a

informal : to grab, shove, or handle (someone or something) forcefully

One day, some jerk jacked him up against a locker. "I'm in the air, feet dangling," recalls [Jim] Shea …

—Anne Marie Cruz

b

informal : to cause injury to (someone or something)

Saturday I jacked up my neck and shoulder while I was warming up to play golf.

—Patrick Dix

c

informal : to beat up or hurt (someone)

A Gainesville man with a history of battery convictions has been charged with child abuse after police say he admitted to "jacking up" an 11-year-old boy, resulting in bruises still visible to officers three days later.

—Sean P. McCrory

d

informal : to treat or confront (someone) in a harassing, rough, or overly aggressive and typically unwarranted manner

In recent months, the service has increasingly been contacted by youths who say they were "jacked up" by police—stopped suddenly by anti-gang officers, frisked, questioned and sometimes roughed up, [David] Lynn said.

—Los Angeles Times

And in the course of being jacked up by the police, many claim they have been man-handled or physically mistreated.

—Jeff Yang

Examples of jack-up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Additionally, about one-third of the global jack-up fleet is approaching or has exceeded retirement age, suggesting a likely decrease in available equipment going forward. —Ganesh Rao, CNBC, 25 Nov. 2024

Soon after it was built, the grab was used by the global salvage firm Ardent to clear wreckage from the Troll Solution, a jack-up offshore oil rig that collapsed in 2015. —Dan Belson, Baltimore Sun, 23 Apr. 2024

Verb

Trump jacked up import taxes on Chinese goods to as much as 145%, but after talks Trump has said China faces total tariffs of 55%. —Josh Boak, Fortune, 11 July 2025

Trump’s tariffs are widely expected to jack up prices and eventually weaken economic growth, but so far, there’s been little evidence of that. —Bryan Mena, CNN Money, 24 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1961, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1853, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for jack-up

• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup
• markup