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

The team is currently improving the technology to compensate for disturbances from waves, so installation can be done on floating vessels instead of jack-up vessels, which stand on the seabed. —IEEE Spectrum, 8 Mar. 2023

Verb

The state’s Medicaid program will cost an extra $714 million as the higher federal match expires and inflation and other factors jack up costs. —Laura Vozzella, Washington Post, 25 Nov. 2023

Like a frenzied point guard trying to jack up his assist numbers, Peter Biskind needs to dish. —Chris Vognar, Los Angeles Times, 3 Nov. 2023

Affordable housing debates are rippling across the U.S., with other private-equity firms landing in the crosshairs of lawmakers after purchasing thousands of homes for longer-term rentals, often squeezing out first-time home buyers and jacking up rents. —Steve Mollman, Fortune, 9 Nov. 2023

Still, the more streamers jack up their prices, the fewer services, presumably, people will want to shell out for. —WIRED, 18 Oct. 2023

Insurers have also been backing out of some coastal regions, due to sea level rise, while jacking up rates elsewhere. —Liza Featherstone, The New Republic, 4 Oct. 2023

Keep an eye on Amazon’s fluid pricing when reordering to make sure the cost did not unnecessarily get jacked up. —Kurt Knutsson, Fox News, 28 Sep. 2023

On Wednesday, Netflix announced yet another price increase for some customers, jacking up the cost of its premium ad-free plan in the United States by $3 a month, to $22.99. —Allison Morrow, CNN, 19 Oct. 2023

On Tuesday, Santos was hit with a dozen charges related to stealing his donors’ identification and credit card information, allegedly wiring tens of thousands of dollars to his personal bank account while using the rest to jack up his campaign numbers. —Edith Olmsted, The New Republic, 17 Oct. 2023

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Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1961, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1853, in the meaning defined at sense 1