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jack up
jack someone up
1. Sl. to excite or stimulate someone, possibly with drugs. Tom jacked up his buddy by talking to him. Tom jacked up Fred with a lot of encouragement.
2. Sl. to motivate someone; to stimulate someone to do something. The mail is late again today. We'll have to jack those people up at the post office. I guess I'll have to jack up the carpenter again to repair my stairs.
jack something up
1. Lit. to raise something up on a mechanical lifting device. Now I have to jack the car up, so I can change the tire. Please jack up the car.
2. Fig. to raise the price of something. The store keeps jacking prices up. The grocery store jacked up the prices again last night.
jack up something
also jack something up to increase something steeply Credit card companies have jacked up interest rates on most of their accounts. The company decided to jack up the amount of protein in its animal feed.
Etymology: based on the literal meaning of jack up something (to raise something using a special device called a jack)
jack up
Raise or increase, as in The cartel is jacking up oil prices again. This term alludes to the literal meaning of jack up, that is, "hoist with a jack." [Colloquial; c. 1900]
jack up
v.1. To lift something, especially a vehicle, using a jack: We jacked up the car to change the tire. I hurt my arm when I jacked the van up.
2. To raise some price or value by increments: Because of the drought, the stores jacked up the price of lettuce. That candidate is going to jack taxes up after the election.
3. To stimulate someone with or as if with a drug: My friend jacked me up on caffeine the night before exams. The coach jacked up the team with a pep talk before the game.