Wiktionary
vb. (context transitive English) to form by combining materials or parts on top of a surface or foundation
WordNet
Usage examples of "build upon".
But we will build back, because we have hearts like yours to build upon.
Follow-up missions to expand and build upon the pilot program were being fitted out back at Saturn.
Without Ricardo to build upon I could never have seen the correct path that we must follow.
There were times that being a half-blood bothered him, but Flick had stoutly insisted that it was a distinct advantage because it gave him the instincts and character of two races to build upon.
Now it was Genvissa's turn to build upon her five foremothers' work and execute the final turn of the labyrinth, place the final piece of the puzzle, work that magic that would allow power once more to rise from the ashes of her fifth foremother's betrayal.
A rudimentary version of such a skill in ancestral mammals would have provided ample raw material for natural selection to build upon, leading up by gradual degrees to the high perfection of bats.
It will be like the play-yard down by the creek that no one can build upon because the powerful water comes down from the mountains and would push all the buildings off their foundations.