level up

verb

leveled up or levelled up; leveling up or levelling up; levels up

transitive + intransitive

: to advance or improve (oneself, someone else, or something) in or as if in a game

Collect cards and magic potions, then level up your favourite dragons to increase their abilities.

—Animation Xpress

Staying competitive comes down to many factors, but one that's often overlooked, in my opinion, is the ongoing need to level up your marketing team.

—Sujan Patel

That [Kevin] Reilly has leveled up the brands of both networks is clear in their programming selections.

—Broadcasting and Cable

We provide nurses with the tools they need to level up their careers and their profession …

—News & Record (Greensboro, North Carolina)

Leveling up and finding new weapons, armor, or items give you plenty of incentive to keep slashing and button mashing away.

—Dan Hsu

Companies coax helpers to participate by offering points for useful answers, connecting total points to specific achievement levels, and encouraging users to level up, for even greater prestige.

—Paul McFedries

Examples of level up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

To level up Fanatics Fest this year, the New York Knicks will be in attendance following their 2026 NBA Finals win over the San Antonio Spurs, securing the championship title for the first time in 53 years. —Skyler Caruso, PEOPLE, 18 June 2026

Ahead, 10 rich girl hair colors to level up your lengths. —Calin Van Paris, InStyle, 17 June 2026

Alongside that, the voice acting sounds superb, leveling up the immersion for the far-future adventure that the development team has created. —Jeff Spry, Space.com, 16 June 2026

For years, Qualcomm pushed this effort forward solo, but with Nvidia joining the cause, Windows on Arm just leveled up big time. —Brian Westover, PC Magazine, 9 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

2003, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for level up

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