as in to develop
to produce or bring about especially by long or repeated effort
spent years working up a period novel that was historically accurate in every detail
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of work up
The season is too long to get worked up by three games in August.
—
Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Aug. 2025
Stidham’s going into his third season with Webb and has seen his positional work up close since Webb jumped from playing to coaching after Payton got hired in Denver.
—Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 17 Aug. 2025
Smalltown Boy works up the courage to ask Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) to dance, and now their hands are all over each other, much to the chagrin of Smalltown Boy’s ex, Personal Jesus, who is going through the motions of dancing with Caribbean Queen but keeps looking over his shoulder.
—Literary Hub, 15 Aug. 2025
This has led to a growing number of contract employees who work up to, but not past, the hourly limit.
—Elisabeth Rosenthal, Miami Herald, 12 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for work up
Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Aug. 2025
Stidham’s going into his third season with Webb and has seen his positional work up close since Webb jumped from playing to coaching after Payton got hired in Denver.
—Parker Gabriel, Denver Post, 17 Aug. 2025
Smalltown Boy works up the courage to ask Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) to dance, and now their hands are all over each other, much to the chagrin of Smalltown Boy’s ex, Personal Jesus, who is going through the motions of dancing with Caribbean Queen but keeps looking over his shoulder.
—Literary Hub, 15 Aug. 2025
This has led to a growing number of contract employees who work up to, but not past, the hourly limit.
—Elisabeth Rosenthal, Miami Herald, 12 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for work up
Recent Examples of Synonyms for work up
Verb
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Secondly, as larger institutions have developed and deployed crypto and other on-chain products and services, the risk tolerance of these newer investors may be lower than more veteran players, which might have compounded the sell-off.—
Sean Stein Smith,
Forbes.com,
18 Oct. 2025
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Work with a dietician to develop a nutritious diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables.—
Carrie Madormo,
Health,
18 Oct. 2025
Verb
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What would be the reason to forge Dead Sea Scrolls or create the apocryphal Book of Judith.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
16 Oct. 2025
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But Delhi will continue to try to thread the needle between these concerns and its desire to forge closer regional partnerships at Pakistan’s expense.—
Happymon Jacob,
Time,
16 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The bad news is that there are already murmurs in Brussels about piecemeal, incremental measures – harmonizing certain national laws, creating yet another framework for EU member states to fuss over and interpret.—
Jan Hammer,
Fortune,
18 Oct. 2025
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The series is created, written, directed and executive produced by Levinson and produced in partnership with A24.—
Jackie Strause,
HollywoodReporter,
17 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Those decisions won’t always work out.—
Sam McDowell
October 13,
Kansas City Star,
13 Oct. 2025
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The Steelers worked out defensive lineman Bell Stille and hosted offensive lineman Bayron Matos on a visit.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
12 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Work up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/work%20up. Accessed 19 Oct. 2025.
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