square up

phrasal verb

squared up; squaring up; squares up

: to turn so that one is facing something or someone directly

She squared up (with/to the basket) for a three-point shot.

They squared up for a fight.

Examples of square up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Michelle Rodrigues, a primatologist, conservation scientist and member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Primate Specialist Group focused on human-primate interactions, agrees that under normal circumstances, a gorilla won’t be squaring up against 100 men. —Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 29 Apr. 2025

The washers contain a large haul of cocaine, which Mia and Charlie are tasked with delivering to the Chinatown hangout of smug young local Triad boss Tsui Fong (Jeremy Ang Jones) to square up a debt. —David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 24 Apr. 2025

Opposing hitters are also squaring up the pitch at a higher frequency than in 2024. —Chris Kirschner, New York Times, 20 Apr. 2025

Huskies guard Hassan Diarra shoved Neal in the chest and appeared to square up with his fists for a split second as the two were face-to-face. —Ryan Morik, Fox News, 15 Mar. 2025

Rhymes for square up

• buttercup
• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup