pump up

verb

pumped up; pumping up; pumps up

transitive verb

1
a
: to fill with enthusiasm or excitement
b
: to fill with or as if with air : inflate
2

Examples of pump up in a Sentence

the crowd was pumped up by the band's rocking performance that pop diva is trying to pump up album sales with an extended publicity tour
Recent Examples on the Web But the early round of results suggest California voters seemed more pumped up four years ago. Rosalio Ahumada, Sacramento Bee, 6 Mar. 2024 Nor did the tax cuts have any noticeable effect on wages, despite promises from Trump officials that average wages would be pumped up by $3,000 to $7,000 per worker. Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 17 Jan. 2024 The bipartisan legislation proposes regular testing for 1,4-dioxane in water pumped up from the Floridan Aquifer, the primary water source for Central Florida, and would impose an allowable limit for the chemical in drinking water. Kevin Spear, Orlando Sentinel, 8 Jan. 2024 Exynos chips get an AMD Radeon GPU, so Qualcomm pumping up the GPU to compete makes sense. Ron Amadeo, Ars Technica, 17 Jan. 2024 The water mingles with the groundwater for months before being pumped up and used for drinking water again. Adam Beam, Fortune, 20 Dec. 2023 That almost throwaway song, like many of the musical interludes, is pumped up by Fatima Robinson’s energetic choreography into a robust production number. David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Dec. 2023 To pump up the color payoff no matter your choice, Fleming recommends first applying a lip pencil in a similar hue. Dianna Mazzone, Allure, 18 Jan. 2024 These striking cocktails will pump up any party and are sure to be a hit for everything from tree decorating to holiday dinners. Sophia Beams, Better Homes & Gardens, 4 Dec. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pump up.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1791, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of pump up was in 1791

Cite this Entry

“Pump up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pump%20up. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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