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beef up

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beef something up

to add strength or substance to something. Let's beef this music up with a little more on the drums. They beefed up the offer with another thousand dollars.

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beef up something

also beef something up

to make something stronger or more effective The city is beefing up police patrols, putting more cops on the street where they can be seen.

See also: beef, up

beef up

Strengthen, reinforce, as in Mary wants us to beef up her part in the play. This phrase relies on an older slang sense of beef as "muscles" or "power." [Colloquial; late 1800s]

See also: beef, up

beef up

v.

1. To cause someone or something to become bigger, stronger, or bulkier: You should beef up your travel report with more descriptions of what you saw. The soup tastes good, but we could beef it up by adding some spices.

2. To become bigger, stronger, or bulkier: The actor beefed up over a couple of months so that he could play the part of a boxer.

See also: beef, up