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

Here are three physical techniques that can level up your speaking: The Lego Exercise For those who struggle with speaking too quickly or can’t tolerate silence, Hoeppner recommends using Lego blocks as physical anchors. —Janine MacLachlan, Forbes, 12 Mar. 2025

The pants will level up your athleisure wear, providing a sleek alternative to sweatpants for your next flight. —Rylee Johnston, Travel + Leisure, 7 Mar. 2025

After knocking down a respectable 33 percent of his 3-pointers as a freshman and 36 percent as a sophomore, the 6-foot-5 star wing has leveled up as a junior. —Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 4 Mar. 2025

This cosmic reality check calls you to level up, take ownership of your journey and move forward with more clarity and purpose. —Valerie Mesa, People.com, 25 Feb. 2025

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