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sweeten up

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sweeten someone up

to make someone more pleasant. I had hoped that a week in the Caribbean would sweeten him up. The trip sweetened him up, but not for long.

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sweeten something up

to make something taste sweeter. Where is the sugar? I need to sweeten this up a little. A little sugar will sweeten up the coffee.

See also: sweeten, up

sweeten up

v.

1. To make something sweet or sweeter: The recipe instructs to sweeten up the sauce with a tablespoon of sugar. I usually add some honey to my tea to sweeten it up.

2. To make some offer more appealing: The phone company sweetened up their deal by throwing in a free phone. If you're still unimpressed with our proposal, we can sweeten it up with a great benefits package.

See also: sweeten, up