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

Nearby, loaded barges have been arriving alongside the Aeolus, a Dutch vessel known as a jack-up ship. —Patrick McGeehan, New York Times, 11 Jan. 2024

The central role at South Fork is played by the Aeolus, a jack-up ship. —Patrick McGeehan, New York Times, 27 Nov. 2023

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

How getting ‘jacked up’ by police helped shape the LAPD’s chief watchdog. —Anthony De Leon, Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2024

The Fed jacks up rates to slow demand and bring down inflation. —Bryan Mena, CNN, 14 Mar. 2024

The crisis has jacked up the price of eggs at the grocery store as well as the new furniture her brother is required, by tradition, to buy for the marital home, Ms. Hussein said. —Nada Rashwan, New York Times, 5 Mar. 2024

Some experts and lawmakers also contend that food makers have used surging inflation as a pretext to jack up prices. —Anne Marie Lee, CBS News, 26 Feb. 2024

As the Fed rapidly jacked up rates in 2022, most analysts predicted that the U.S. economy would tip into recession. —Matt Ott, Quartz, 8 Feb. 2024

Some buffets jack up their prices on weekends or charge customers for uneaten food. —Lauren Collins, The New Yorker, 1 Apr. 2024

Beginning in March 2022, the Fed jacked up its benchmark rate 11 times, to a 23-year high, making borrowing much more expensive for businesses and households. —Paul Wiseman, Fortune, 28 Mar. 2024

In its turnaround plan published in October, Thames Water, which is saddled with £14 billion ($17.7 million) in debt, proposed to jack up the average annual customer bill by 40% by 2030. —Anna Cooban, CNN, 28 Mar. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1961, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1853, in the meaning defined at sense 1