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

Cranking the level up one notch to Thorough just adds List Brokers to the mix. — Neil J. Rubenking, PC Magazine, 5 Aug. 2026

However, businesses of all sizes today can adapt and respond to modern fraud by deploying strategies and more cost-efficient tools that level up their tech stacks. — Ray Fernandez, Forbes.com, 31 July 2026

No more distractions, no more lingering questions, just a baller who loves this sport and continues to level up. — Colton Pouncy, New York Times, 31 July 2026

The live service game features the continents of Antonica, Faydwer and Odus, with increasing difficulty as players level up. — Tanya Fedak, Variety, 29 July 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