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

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for beef (up)
  1. strengthen
  2. intensify
  3. enhance
  4. deepen
  5. heighten
Verb
  • Sterling strengthened on Wednesday after cooler-than-expected inflation prints out of the U.K. and U.S. sparked optimism around the U.K. economy and strengthened market bets on Federal Reserve interest rate cuts this year.
    Jenni Reid,Holly Ellyatt, CNBC, 16 Jan. 2025
  • Cycling helps to strengthen the muscles around the knee, helping to support the joints and reduce pain, while also improving flexibility and range of motion.
    Jennifer Shanker, Flow Space, 16 Jan. 2025
Definition of strengthen
Verb
  • Banks are on a winning streak, one that’s poised to intensify as President-elect Donald J. Trump takes office.
    Jeanna Smialek, New York Times, 9 Jan. 2025
  • The Big Ten-SEC rivalry is about to intensify as the external factors dictating both conferences’ strategies change, and the Big Ten perhaps is in a better position to succeed than at any time in the last 50 years.
    Scott Dochterman, The Athletic, 9 Jan. 2025
Definition of intensify
Verb
  • Beckham has been a brand ambassador for Tudor since 2017 and has been seen wearing a wide range of Tudor models in various settings, using his style and status to enhance Tudor’s image and reach.
    Sophie Furley, Robb Report, 18 Jan. 2025
  • But one rationale for these scrambles is to enhance pedestrian safety by completely separating vehicles from pedestrians.
    Kwame Anthony Appiah, New York Times, 18 Jan. 2025
Definition of enhance
Verb
  • Second, invest in initiatives that deepen your audience’s connection to your brand.
    Will Fan, Forbes, 13 Jan. 2025
  • The fires — expected to be among the costliest natural disasters in U.S. history — have deepened a crisis in the state’s home insurance market that was already reeling before the devastation came.
    Laurence Darmiento, Los Angeles Times, 12 Jan. 2025
Definition of deepen
Verb
  • The combination of low humidity, dry fuels, and shifting winds has heightened the potential for spot fires and rapid expansion.
    Anna Skinner, Newsweek, 10 Jan. 2025
  • Its marked minerality is heightened by a subtle effervescence which occurs from fermentation at a low temperature to retain small quantities of carbon dioxide.
    Jillian Dara, Forbes, 10 Jan. 2025
Definition of heighten
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.

Thesaurus Entries Near beef (up)

beefs (up)

beef (up)

beefy

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Beef (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/beef%20%28up%29. Accessed 22 Jan. 2025.

Copy Citation

Share

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See All

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Using Bullet Points ( • )

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

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

More Commonly Misspelled Words
See All

Popular in Wordplay

See All

Top 12 Sophisticated Compliments

Word of the Year 2024 | Polarization

Terroir, Oenophile, & Magnum: Ten Words About Wine

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments

10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version)
See All

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 Word Game 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?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
white rubber duck stands out in a row of yellow ducks
Odd Word Out: Synonyms Quiz Figure out which word isn't like the others.