beef (up)

verb

Definition of beef (up)next
1
as in to strengthen
to increase the ability of (as a muscle) to exert physical force beefed up the walls with iron bars

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to intensify
to make markedly greater in measure or degree will beef up security for the next few days while the president is in town

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for beef (up)
  1. strengthen
  2. intensify
  3. enhance
  4. heighten
  5. deepen
Verb
  • Studies also suggest that El Niño can strengthen and accelerate the frequency of nor'easters by pushing warm, moist air to the north.
    — Ava Berger, NPR, 29 Oct. 2026
  • Colleges and universities can take advantage of their expertise, resources and autonomy from the traditional K-12 education establishment to strengthen not only the state’s charter movement, but public education in their communities.
    — Thibaut Delloue, The Orlando Sentinel, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of strengthen
Verb
  • The Daily Caller is clearly positioning itself for a landscape not just post-midterms but post- Trump, and for a bitter and intensifying intra-party media battle.
    — Max Tani, semafor.com, 2 Nov. 2026
  • This weekend's shows fell during the ceasefire, but the company plans to perform next weekend as usual, even as local officials warn that Russian forces have brought in more weapons and personnel and some residents expect shelling to intensify.
    — HANNA ARHIROVA, Arkansas Online, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of intensify
Verb
  • Throughout history, some were commissioned to enhance the interiors with their signature flair while others bartered their artwork for breaks on daily rates and others simply just thrived off the scene.
    — Sofia Celeste, Footwear News, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Each picture mode offers essentially the same rich set of options, except for AI-enhanced, which locks you out of some settings (including local contrast and color tuner), presumably because the AI logic is handling those.
    — M. David Stone, PC Magazine, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of enhance
Verb
  • The designation could expose individuals accused of working with MI6 to prosecution under Iranian law and heighten the risk of military confrontation.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 2 Nov. 2026
  • This discovery further heightens concerns regarding the manufacturing quality and overall reliability of American aerospace products.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of heighten
Verb
  • But North Korea’s deepening military ties with Russia since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine have led analysts to question whether Pyongyang is becoming less reliant on Beijing.
    — CNN Money, CNN Money, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Residents of the southern Ukrainian ⁠town, occupied by Russian forces since February 2022, have reported a deepening food crisis.
    — Reuters, NBC news, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of deepen
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

beefs (up)
beef (up)
beefy
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Beef (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/beef%20%28up%29. Accessed 4 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of fulsome

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Old-Timey Vehicles

Ten More Words from Taylor Swift Songs

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
couple-laugh-cafe
Quiz: Foreign Phrases You Should Know Check out your bona fides and avoid any faux pas.
See All