What does up mean

Crossword clues for up

heads up

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

I.adverb

COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES

a band strikes up (=starts playing)

▪ We were on the dance floor waiting for the band to strike up.

a car pulls up (=stops)

▪ Why’s that police car pulling up here?

a child grows up

▪ One in four children is growing up in poverty.

a coalition collapses/breaks up

▪ Austria's ruling government coalition collapsed.

a computer is up (=is working again after stopping working)

a computer starts up/boots up

▪ My computer takes ages to start up in the morning.

a computer starts up/boots up

▪ My computer takes ages to start up in the morning.

a crowd disperses/breaks up (=goes away in different directions)

▪ Seeing there would be no more entertainment, the crowd began to disperse.

a group splits up (=the members decide not to play together anymore)

▪ The group split up because of ‘musical differences’.

a legend grew (up) (=developed over time)

▪ The legend of his bravery grew after he killed the dragon.

a level rises/goes up/increases

▪ The level of unemployment has increased.

a marriage breaks down/up (=ends because of disagreements)

▪ Liz’s marriage broke up after only eight months.

a myth grows up (=starts)

▪ A number of myths have grown up about their relationship.

a number increases/goes up/grows/rises

▪ The number of mobile phones has increased dramatically.

a party breaks up (=it ends and people go home)

▪ The party broke up a little after midnight.

a price goes up/rises/increases

▪ When supplies go down, prices tend to go up.

a price shoots up/soars/rockets (=increases quickly by a large amount)

▪ The price of oil soared in the 1970s.

a river dries up

▪ Further downstream the river has dried up completely several times in recent years.

a storm blows up (=starts)

▪ That night, a storm blew up.

a storm blows up (=starts)

▪ In 1895 a diplomatic storm blew up between Britain and America over Venezuela.

a subject comes up (=people start talking about it)

▪ The subject of payment never came up.

a vacancy comes up (also a vacancy arises/occursformal) (= there is a vacancy)

▪ A vacancy has arisen on the committee.

abandon/give up an attempt

▪ They had to abandon their attempt to climb the mountain.

abandon/give up your plans

▪ The city authorities have abandoned their plans to host the Super Bowl.

abandon/give up/drop a pretence (=stop pretending that you are doing something or that something is true)

▪ Maria had abandoned any pretence of having faith of any kind long ago.

add sth up on a calculator

▪ I added the cost up on a calculator.

add up numbers (=add several numbers together)

▪ Write all the numbers down, then add them up.

add up the figures

▪ I must have made a mistake when I added up the figures.

an infection clears up (=goes away)

▪ Although the infection cleared up, he still felt weak.

an issue comes up (also an issue arisesformal) (= people started to discuss it)

▪ The issue arose during a meeting of the Budget Committee.

an opportunity comes (along/up)

▪ We had outgrown our house when the opportunity came up to buy one with more land.

appoint/set up/form a committee

▪ The council appointed a special committee to study the issue.

back up a claim (=support it)

▪ They challenged him to back up his claims with evidence.

bang up to date

▪ The technology is bang up to date.

be doubled up/over with laughter/pain etc

▪ Both the girls were doubled up with laughter.

be fired (up) with enthusiasm (=be very enthusiastic and keen to do something)

▪ She came back from the course fired up with enthusiasm.

be stuck/caught/held up in traffic

▪ Sorry I’m late – I was stuck in traffic.

be up to mischief (=be doing things that cause trouble or damage)

▪ The children were lively and always up to mischief.

be/come up to standard (=be good enough)

▪ Her work was not up to standard.

beered up

bevvied up

▪ We’re all going out to get bevvied up.

blow up

▪ Can you help me blow up these balloons?

blow up...balloon

▪ Can you blow up this balloon?

blow...tyres up

▪ We’ll blow the tyres up.

bobbed...up and down

▪ The boat bobbed gently up and down on the water.

bouncing up and down

▪ Stop bouncing up and down on the sofa.

break up a demonstration (=prevent it from continuing)

▪ Police moved in to break up the demonstration.

bring up a childespecially BrE, raise a child especially AmE

▪ The cost of bringing up a child has risen rapidly.

bring up/raise a subject (=deliberately start talking about it)

▪ You brought the subject up, not me.

bring/get sth up to scratch

▪ We spent thousands of pounds getting the house up to scratch.

bring...up to snuff

▪ A lot of money was spent to bring the building up to snuff.

build up a collection

▪ He gradually built up a collection of plants from all over the world.

build (up) a picture of sb/sth (=form a clear idea about someone or something)

▪ We’re trying to build up a picture of what happened.

build (up) an empire

▪ She built her clothing empire from one small shop to an international chain.

build up sb’s confidence (=gradually increase it)

▪ When you’ve had an accident, it takes a while to build up your confidence again.

build (up) support (=increase it)

▪ Now he needs to build his support by explaining what he believes in.

build up to a climax

▪ The music was getting louder and building up to a climax.

build up your strength (=make yourself stronger)

▪ You need to build up your strength.

build (up)/develop a business

▪ He spent years trying to build a business in Antigua.

build up/establish a circle

▪ Michael built up a wide circle of customers and friends worldwide.

build up/form a picture (=gradually get an idea of what something is like)

▪ Detectives are still trying to build up a picture of what happened.

building up...stock

▪ The country has been building up its stock of weapons.

burn (up/off) calories (=use up the calories you have eaten)

▪ Even walking will help you to burn up calories.

catch up on some sleep (=sleep after not having enough sleep)

▪ I suggest you try and catch up on some sleep.

catch up on some sleep (=after a period without enough sleep)

▪ I need to catch up on some sleep.

catching up

▪ I’ll leave you two alone – I’m sure you’ve got a lot of catching up to do.

cheer went up

▪ A great cheer went up from the crowd.

clean up the environment

▪ It’s about time that we started cleaning up the environment.

clean up your image (=improve your image after it has been damaged)

▪ The pop star promised to clean up his image after he was released from prison.

cleaned up...image

▪ It’s high time British soccer cleaned up its image.

clear up the confusion (=explain something more clearly)

▪ The chairman said that he would try to clear up the confusion.

clear up/correct a misunderstanding (=get rid of a misunderstanding)

▪ I want to talk to you, to try and clear up any misunderstandings.

clear/clean up the mess

▪ Whoever is responsible for this mess can clear it up immediately!

climb (up/down) a ladder

▪ He climbed the ladder up to the diving platform.

climbing up the greasy pole

▪ a politician climbing up the greasy pole

come up for review (=be reviewed after a particular period of time has ended)

▪ His contract is coming up for review.

come up to expectations

▪ The resort certainly failed to come up to expectations.

come up to/live up to sb's expectations (=be as good as someone hoped or expected)

▪ The match was boring, and didn't live up to our expectations at all.

come up to/live up to sb's expectations (=be as good as someone hoped or expected)

▪ The match was boring, and didn't live up to our expectations at all.

come up with a design (=think of or suggest one)

▪ We asked the architect to come up with another design.

come up with a plan (=think of a plan)

▪ The chairman must come up with a plan to get the club back on its feet.

come up with a proposal (=think of one)

▪ The sales staff came up with an innovative proposal.

come up with a suggestion (=think of something to suggest)

▪ We’ve come up with five suggestions.

come up with an answer (=find a way of dealing with a problem)

▪ The government is struggling to come up with answers to our economic problems.

come up with an idea (=think of an idea)

▪ He’s always coming up with interesting ideas.

come up with/develop a theory

▪ These birds helped Darwin develop his theory of natural selection.

come up/down a ladder

▪ Dickson came up the ladder from the engine room.

comes up for renewal

▪ Mark’s contract comes up for renewal at the end of this year.

conjure up images/pictures/thoughts etc (of sth)

▪ Dieting always seems to conjure up images of endless salads.

consumption rises/increases/goes up

▪ Consumption of unleaded fuel rose by 17% in 1992.

cooped up

▪ It isn’t good for you to be cooped up in the house all day.

cranked up...volume

▪ We cranked up the volume.

creep (up) to sb

▪ I’m not the kind of person to creep to anybody.

cut up

▪ He was very cut up about Stephen dying.

devise/formulate/draw up a plan (=make a detailed plan, especially after considering something carefully)

▪ He devised a daring plan to steal two million dollars.

▪ The company has already drawn up plans to develop the site.

disperse/break up a crowd (=make a crowd go away in different directions)

▪ A few warning shots were fired in an attempt to disperse the crowd.

do up a button (=fasten it)

▪ He quickly did up the buttons on his shirt.

do up a houseinformal (= decorate it)

▪ We’ve been doing up the house bit by bit since we first moved in.

do up/undo a zip

▪ Your zip’s undone at the back.

draw up a budget (=plan of how to spend the money that is available)

▪ Each year business managers draw up a budget.

draw up a constitution (=set of laws and principles that govern a country)

▪ The first Czech constitution was drawn up here in 1920.

draw up a contract (=write one)

▪ The two sides drew up a contract.

draw up a contract/agreement

▪ Some people draw up a contract when they get married.

draw up a list

▪ They drew up a list of suitable candidates for the job.

draw up a petition (=prepare one)

▪ They are drawing up a petition which will be presented to the Archbishop.

draw up a plan/scheme

▪ Local authorities have drawn up new plans for waste disposal.

draw up a programme

▪ A small team has drawn up a programme of action.

draw up a proposal

▪ A committee of experts drew up proposals for a constitution.

draw up a proposal

▪ The European Communities were drawing up proposals to control the export of chemicals.

draw up a report

▪ Environmental organizations have been involved in drawing up the report.

draw up a timetable/schedule

▪ They haven’t yet drawn up a timetable for the elections.

draw up guidelines

▪ A committee of teachers has drawn up guidelines for schools on how to deal with difficult students.

draw up/compile a shortlist

▪ The panel will draw up a shortlist of candidates.

draw up/draft a constitution (=write one)

▪ The American constitution was drafted in 1787.

draw up/issue guidelines

▪ The hospital has issued new guidelines on the treatment of mentally ill patients.

draw up/lay down a code (=create one)

▪ The syndicate decided to draw up a code of conduct for its members.

draw up/produce a checklist (=make one)

▪ Why not draw up a checklist of things you want to achieve this year?

drew up alongside

▪ A car drew up alongside.

drive sb up the wall/round the bend/out of their mindspoken informal (= make someone feel very annoyed)

▪ That voice of hers drives me up the wall.

driving...up the wall (=making me annoyed)

▪ That noise is driving me up the wall.

drum up business (=get more work and sales)

▪ The organization is using the event to drum up business.

drum up/rally support (=get people’s support by making an effort)

▪ Both sides have been drumming up support through the internet.

drumming up support

▪ He travelled throughout Latin America drumming up support for the confederation.

end up in the poorhouse

▪ If Jimmy keeps spending like this, he’s going to end up in the poorhouse.

erect/build/put up barriers

▪ Some kids have erected emotional barriers that stop them from learning.

establish/build up/develop (a) rapport

▪ He built up a good rapport with the children.

establish/form/set up a council

▪ A National Radio and Television Council was established to regulate the market.

events lead (up) to sth (=cause something)

▪ His assassination was one of the events that led to the First World War.

eyes filled up with tears

▪ Her eyes filled up with tears.

fed up

▪ She felt tired and a bit fed up.

fill (a vehicle) up with petrol

▪ She stopped to fill up with petrol.

fill up with fuel (=put fuel in a vehicle's fuel tank)

▪ Before leaving, I filled up with fuel at the local petrol station.

find/come up with a solution

▪ We are working together to find the best solution we can.

find/think of/come up with an explanation

▪ Scientists have been unable to find an explanation for this phenomenon.

foot the bill/pick up the bill (=pay for something, especially when you do not want to)

▪ Taxpayers will probably have to foot the bill.

force prices/interest rates etc down/up

▪ The effect will be to increase unemployment and force down wages.

from the waist up/down (=in the top or bottom half of your body)

▪ Lota was paralysed from the waist down.

fucked up

▪ After three years with Johnny, I was completely fucked up.

fuel inflation/push up inflation (=make inflation worse)

▪ The increase in food prices is fuelling inflation.

▪ There are now fears that price rises will push up inflation.

full (up) to burstingBritish Englishinformal (= completely full)

▪ The filing cabinet was full to bursting.

further/higher up a scale

▪ Peasants managed their land as skilfully as some people higher up the social scale.

gain/gather/build up momentum (=become more and more successful)

▪ The show gathered momentum over the next few months and became a huge hit.

gain/gather/pick up speed (=go faster)

▪ The Mercedes was gradually picking up speed.

gave it up as a bad job (=stopped trying because success seemed unlikely)

▪ The ground was too hard to dig so I gave it up as a bad job.

get bevvied up

▪ We’re all going out to get bevvied up.

get het up

▪ Mike tends to get het up about silly things.

get into/up to mischief (also make mischief) (= do things that cause trouble or damage)

▪ You spend too much time getting into mischief!

get up from your chair (also rise from your chairformal)

▪ He got up from his chair and walked to the window.

get up from your desk

▪ He got up from his desk to welcome the visitors.

get up from/leave the table

▪ She stood up from her chair and left the table.

get up/wake up/be up early

▪ Set the alarm for six – I have to be up early tomorrow.

get up/wake up/be up early

▪ Set the alarm for six – I have to be up early tomorrow.

get up/wake up/be up early

▪ Set the alarm for six – I have to be up early tomorrow.

get...muddled up

▪ Spanish and Italian are very similar and I sometimes get them muddled up.

getting cleaned up

▪ Dad’s upstairs getting cleaned up.

get...worked up

▪ You shouldn’t get so worked up about it.

give up...easily

▪ You shouldn’t give up so easily.

given the thumbs up

▪ The project was finally given the thumbs up.

go up by 10%/250/£900 etc

▪ Unemployment in the country has gone up by a million.

go up the wallBritish English

▪ I’ve got to be on time or Sarah will go up the wall.

go up/come down in sb’s estimation (=be respected or admired more or less by someone)

go up/down a ladder

▪ Be careful going down the ladder!

gone up the spout

▪ My plans for the weekend seem to have gone up the spout.

got clogged up

▪ Over many years, the pipes had got clogged up with grease.

got fed up

▪ Anna got fed up with waiting.

got...lined up

▪ He’s already got a new job lined up.

got...mixed up

▪ I must have got the times mixed up.

got...mixed up

▪ My papers got all mixed up.

got...muddled up

▪ Could you just repeat those figures – I’ve got a bit muddled up.

go/walk up a mountain (also ascend a mountainformal)

▪ Carrie and Albert went up the mountain, neither of them speaking as they climbed.

grow up in poverty

▪ No child should grow up in poverty in America in the 21st century.

hang out/up the laundry (=put the laundry outside on a line to dry)

▪ My mother was hanging out the laundry in the sun.

hard up

▪ I’m a bit hard up at the moment.

held up as a model

▪ The school is held up as a model for others.

held up to ridicule (=suffered ridicule)

▪ The government’s proposals were held up to ridicule by opposition ministers.

het up

▪ Mike tends to get het up about silly things.

High up

▪ High up among the clouds, we saw the summit of Everest.

high up (=in a powerful position)

▪ someone high up in the CIA

hold sb up as an example (=use someone as a good example of something)

▪ He was held up as an example to the younger athletes.

hyped up

increase/push up the cost

▪ The new tax will increase the cost of owning a car.

increase/rise/go up in value

▪ The dollar has been steadily increasing in value.

jump up from your chair (=get up quickly)

▪ ‘Look at the time!’ she cried, jumping up from her chair.

jumping up and down (=jumping repeatedly)

▪ Fans were jumping up and down and cheering.

keep sb’s spirits up (=keep them feeling happy)

▪ He wrote home often, trying to keep his family’s spirits up.

keep up a commentary (=give one continuously)

▪ Attenborough kept up a running commentary on the animals' movements.

keep up the good work! (=continue to work hard and well)

keep up the pace (=continue to do something or happen as quickly as before)

▪ China's society is transforming but can it keep up the pace?

keep up with demand (also keep pace with demand) (= satisfy the demand)

▪ Public funding for higher education has not kept up with demand.

keep up with fashion (=make sure that you know about the most recent fashions)

▪ Lucy likes to keep up with the latest fashions.

keep up with the Joneses (=try to have the same new impressive possessions that other people have)

keep up with the pace (=do something as fast as something else is happening or being done)

▪ It's essential that we constantly update our skills and keep up with the pace of change.

keep up/maintain a pretence (=keep pretending that you are doing something or that something is true)

▪ She kept up the pretence that her husband had died in order to claim the insurance money.

keep up/maintain morale (=keep morale high)

▪ It was becoming difficult to keep up the morale of the troops.

keyed up

▪ Travis was keyed up at the thought of seeing Rosie again.

kiss and make up

▪ Oh come on! Why don’t you just kiss and make up?

launch/set up an inquiry (=start it)

▪ Police launched an inquiry yesterday after a man was killed by a patrol car.

lightning lights (up) sth

▪ Lightning lit up the room briefly.

live up to its reputation (=be as good as people say it is)

▪ New York certainly lived up to its reputation as an exciting city.

live up to your image (=be like the image you have presented of yourself)

▪ He has certainly lived up to his wild rock-star image.

lived up to...expectations

▪ The film has certainly lived up to my expectations.

look sth up in a dictionary

▪ If you don’t understand the meaning of a word, look it up in a dictionary.

look up a word (=try to find it in a book)

▪ I looked the word up in my dictionary.

look up at the stars

▪ I had spent a lot of time looking up at the stars as a kid.

loose ends...tied up (=dealt with or completed)

▪ We’ve nearly finished, but there are still a few loose ends to be tied up.

lose/give up/abandon hope (=stop hoping)

▪ After so long without any word from David, Margaret was starting to lose hope.

made up a foursome

▪ Jim and Tina made up a foursome with Jean and Bruce.

make up a prescription (also fill a prescription American English) (= give a patient the drugs that a doctor says they need)

▪ You can get the prescription made up at a chemist's.

make up the difference

▪ The company will be forced to pay $6 million to make up the difference.

make up/invent a story

▪ She confessed to making up the story of being abducted.

make up/think up/invent an excuse

▪ I made up some excuse about my car breaking down.

▪ We’d better think up an excuse, fast.

make up/think up/invent an excuse

▪ I made up some excuse about my car breaking down.

▪ We’d better think up an excuse, fast.

make/draw up/write a list

▪ Could you make a list of any supplies we need?

make...own mind up

▪ You’re old enough to make your own mind up about smoking.

make...up as...go along (=think of things to say as I am speaking)

▪ I’ve given talks so many times that now I just make them up as I go along.

making...up as...went along

▪ He was making the story up as he went along.

meet up for a chat

▪ Sometimes we go to the cinema or just meet up for a chat.

meet/keep up the payments (on sth) (=be able to make regular payments)

▪ He was having trouble meeting the interest payments.

meet/live up to your ideals (=be as good as you think something should be)

▪ The regime is not living up to its supposed democratic ideals.

messed up

mind is made up

▪ No more argument. My mind is made up.

mixed up

▪ He’s the last person I’d expect to be mixed up in something like this.

more than make up for

▪ The good days more than make up for the bad ones.

move up/down a scale

▪ Some farmers prospered and moved up the social scale.

moved up in the world (=got a better job or social position)

▪ He’s moved up in the world in the last few years, and his new flat shows it.

moving up the ladder (=getting higher and higher positions)

▪ He was moving up the ladder, getting experience of command.

muster (up) the courage/confidence/energy etc to do sth

▪ Finally I mustered up the courage to ask her out.

next size up (=a slightly bigger size)

▪ Do they have the next size up?

nominate/put up a candidate (=put forward a candidate)

▪ Any member may nominate a candidate.

not giving up my day job

▪ I’d love to be a professional writer, but I’m not giving up my day job just yet.

not stand up to scrutiny/not bear scrutiny (=be found to have faults when examined)

▪ Such arguments do not stand up to careful scrutiny.

notch up a win (=achieve a win)

▪ Escude has now notched up three consecutive wins over him.

notched up...win

▪ The Houston Astros have notched up another win.

open up a possibility (=make a new opportunity available)

▪ His recent performance opens up the possibility for him to compete in the Olympic Games.

open up new vistas

▪ Exchange programs open up new vistas for students.

opening up

▪ the opening up of opportunities for women

pacing...up and down

▪ I found Mark at the hospital, pacing restlessly up and down.

pass up a chance/opportunity/offer

▪ I don’t think you should pass up the opportunity to go to university.

past catches up with

▪ At the end of the movie his murky past catches up with him.

patch it/things up (with sb)

▪ He went back to patch things up with his wife.

patch up a quarrelBritish English (= end it)

▪ The brothers eventually patched up their quarrel.

patch up...differences

▪ Try to patch up your differences before he leaves.

pick up a bug (=catch one)

▪ He seems to pick up every bug going.

pick up a tip

▪ If you listen to the show, you’ll pick up some really useful gardening tips.

pick up an accent

▪ During his stay in England, he had picked up an English accent.

pick up the telephone

▪ As soon as she got home, she picked up the telephone and dialled his number.

pick up where...left off

▪ We’ll meet again in the morning and we can pick up where we left off.

pick up/lift the receiver

▪ She picked up the receiver and dialled his number.

pick up/scoop up an award (=to get an award – used especially in news reports)

▪ Angelina Jolie scooped up the award for best actress.

pick up/scoop up an award (=to get an award – used especially in news reports)

▪ Angelina Jolie scooped up the award for best actress.

pick up/snap up a bargain (=find one)

▪ You can often pick up a bargain at an auction.

pick up/snap up a bargain (=find one)

▪ You can often pick up a bargain at an auction.

picked up...tracks

▪ We picked up their tracks again on the other side of the river.

pluck up/screw up the courage to do sth (=try to find it)

▪ He was trying to pluck up the courage to end their relationship.

pluck up/screw up the courage to do sth (=try to find it)

▪ He was trying to pluck up the courage to end their relationship.

profits are up/down

▪ Pre-tax profits were up 21.5%.

provide/present/open up an opportunity

▪ The course also provides an opportunity to study Japanese.

puffed up

▪ I was so puffed up with my own importance in those days.

pull/draw up a chair (=move a chair nearer someone or something)

▪ Pull up a chair and look at these pictures.

put in/up a (good/bad etc) performance

▪ Liverpool put in a marvellous performance in the second half.

put sth up for auction (=try to sell something at an auction)

▪ This week 14 of his paintings were put up for auction.

put up a building (also erect a buildingformal)

▪ They keep pulling down the old buildings and putting up new ones.

put up a house (=build a house, especially when it seems very quick)

▪ I think they’ve ruined the village by putting up these new houses.

put up a statue (also erect a statueformal) (= put it in a public place)

▪ They put up a statue of him in the main square.

▪ They should erect a statue to you for doing that.

put up resistance (=resist someone or something)

▪ If the rest of us are agreed, I don’t think he’ll put up much resistance.

put up...as collateral

▪ We put up our home as collateral in order to raise the money to invest in the scheme.

put up/hang curtains (=fix new curtains at a window )

▪ She was standing on a ladder hanging some new curtains.

put up/increase/raise a price

▪ Manufacturers have had to put their prices up.

put up...umbrella

▪ It started to rain, so Tricia stopped to put up her umbrella.

put...hood up

▪ Why don’t you put your hood up if you’re cold?

putting up posters

▪ A team of volunteers were putting up posters.

put...up for adoption

▪ She decided to put the baby up for adoption.

raise an issue/bring up an issue (=say an issue should be discussed)

▪ Some important issues were raised at the meeting.

raise/bring up a topic (=start talking about it)

▪ It’s still a very difficult topic to raise.

raise/build (up)/boost sb’s self-esteem

▪ Playing a sport can boost a girl’s self-esteem.

▪ students’ sense of self-esteem

raise/put up the rate

▪ If the banks raise interest rates, this will reduce the demand for credit.

ran up a...tab

▪ He ran up a $4000 tab in long-distance calls.

receive/pick up a signal

▪ The antenna that will pick up the signals is a 12-metre dish.

rev (up) an engineBritish English, gun an engine American English (= make an engine go very fast)

▪ As the lights turned green, Chris gunned the engine and we surged forward.

riled up

▪ That class gets me so riled up.

roll up/down a window (=open or shut the window in a car)

▪ Lucy rolled the window down and waved to him.

run up a bill (=use a lot of something so that you have a big bill to pay)

▪ It’s easy to run up a big bill on your mobile phone.

run up debts (also amass debtsformal) (= borrow more and more money)

▪ At that time he was drinking a lot and running up debts.

sales increase/rise/grow/go up

▪ Sales rose by 9% last year.

save up money

▪ She had saved up enough money to buy a car.

sb's eyes light up (=become excited)

▪ His eyes lit up when I mentioned the word money.

sb’s face lights up/brightens (=they start to look happy)

▪ Denise’s face lit up when she heard the news.

sb’s income rises/increases/goes up

▪ They saw their income rise considerably over the next few years.

screwed up

set up a camera (=make a camera ready to use)

▪ The team set up their cameras some distance from the animals.

set up a project (=organize it)

▪ $30 million would be required to set up the project.

set up camp (=put up your tents and arrange the camping place)

▪ The soldiers set up camp outside the city.

set up roadblocks

▪ The police have set up roadblocks to try and catch the two men.

set up/establish a fund

▪ They have set up a fund to build a memorial to all those who died.

set up/establish a working group (to do sth)

▪ The commission has set up a special working group to look at the problem.

set up/establish/create a commission

▪ They set up a commission to investigate the problem of youth crime.

set up/establish/create a zone

▪ The government intends to set up an enterprise zone in the region.

set up/start up in business

▪ The bank gave me a loan to help me set up in business.

set up/start up in business

▪ The bank gave me a loan to help me set up in business.

set up/start/form a company

▪ Two years later he started his own software company.

shares rise/go up (=their value increases)

▪ The company’s shares rose 5.5p to 103p.

sit up straight/sit upright (=with your back straight)

▪ Sit up straight at the table, Maddie.

soak up the atmosphere

▪ Go to a sidewalk café, order coffee, and soak up the atmosphere.

something’s come up

▪ I’m afraid I’ll have to cancel our date – something’s come up.

speed (up) sb’s recovery (=make them recover more quickly)

▪ She believes that a holiday would speed my recovery.

split up/break up with your girlfriend (=stop having a romantic relationship)

stand up in court (=be successfully proved in a court of law)

▪ Without a witness, the charges will never stand up in court.

Stand up straight

▪ Stand up straight and don’t slouch!

start up/boot up a computer (=make it start working)

start/set up a business

▪ When you’re starting a business, you have to work longer hours.

stay up late

▪ I let the kids stay up late on Fridays.

stir things up

▪ Dave’s just trying to stir things up because he’s jealous.

stir up hatred (=deliberately try to cause arguments or bad feelings between people)

▪ Right-wing parties tried to stir up hatred and exploit racial tension.

stir up people’s emotions (=deliberately try to make people have strong feelings)

▪ His speech roused the crowd and stirred up their emotions.

stirred up a hornets' nest

▪ The new production targets have stirred up a hornets' nest.

stirring up trouble

▪ John was always stirring up trouble in class.

stop a fight/break up a fight

▪ The police were called in to break up a fight outside a nightclub.

stop/quit/give up smoking

▪ I gave up smoking nearly ten years ago.

strengthen/build up your muscles (=make them stronger)

▪ If you strengthen the muscles in your back you are less likely to have back problems.

strike up a friendship

▪ He and Matthew struck up a friendship.

summon (up)/muster your courage (=make yourself feel brave)

▪ Summoning all her courage, she got up to see what the noise was.

sunny-side up

sweep (up) the leaves (=tidy away fallen leaves using a brush)

▪ Jack was sweeping leaves in the back garden.

take sb up on an offer/a promise/a suggestion etc

▪ I’ll take you up on that offer of a drink, if it still stands.

take the matter up

▪ The hospital manager has promised to take the matter up with the member of staff involved.

take up a position (=start doing a job)

▪ Woods took up a new position as managing director of a company in Belfast.

take up a post (=start a new job)

▪ She will take up her new post next month.

take up a post/a position/duties etc

▪ The headteacher takes her duties up in August.

take up a sport (=start doing it)

▪ I took up the sport six years ago.

take up an occupation (also enter an occupationformal) (= start doing one)

▪ Many of his colleagues have taken up another occupation.

▪ Our recent graduates have entered a wide range of occupations.

take up an offer/take sb up on their offerBritish English (= accept someone's offer)

▪ I might take him up on his offer.

take up an offer/take sb up on their offerBritish English (= accept someone's offer)

▪ I might take him up on his offer.

take (up) an option (=choose an option )

▪ America was persuaded not to take up the option of military action.

take up golf (=start playing golf)

▪ He took up golf as a way of getting more exercise.

take up sb's invitation/take sb up on their invitation (=accept someone's invitation)

▪ I decided to take them up on their invitation to dinner.

take up sb's invitation/take sb up on their invitation (=accept someone's invitation)

▪ I decided to take them up on their invitation to dinner.

take up space/room

▪ old books that were taking up space in the office

take up the challenge/gauntlet

▪ Rick took up the challenge and cycled the 250 mile route alone.

take up your duties (=start doing a new job)

▪ Neale has agreed a three-year contract and takes up his duties on March 1.

take up/pick up/continue (sth) etc where sb left off (=continue something that has stopped for a short time)

▪ Barry took up the story where Justine had left off.

take up/pick up/continue (sth) etc where sb left off (=continue something that has stopped for a short time)

▪ Barry took up the story where Justine had left off.

take/stand for/put up with crap (=to allow someone to treat you badly)

▪ I’m not going to take any more of this crap!

taking up...positions

▪ The runners are taking up their positions on the starting line.

tanked up

▪ He went down the pub and got tanked up.

tears well up in sb’s eyes (=tears come into their eyes)

▪ She broke off, feeling the tears welling up in her eyes.

tears well up

▪ I felt tears well up in my eyes.

tensed up

▪ Brian got so tensed up he could hardly speak.

the cost rises/goes up

▪ The cost of electricity has risen again.

the quality goes up/down

▪ I think the quality has gone down over the years.

the rate goes up (also the rate rises/increasesmore formal)

▪ The crime rate just keeps going up.

the rent increases/goes up

▪ The rent has gone up by over 50% in the last two years.

the sun rises/comes up (=appears at the beginning of the day)

▪ As the sun rises, the birds take flight.

the wind picks up (also the wind gets up British English) (= becomes stronger)

▪ The rain beat down and the wind was picking up.

things are looking up

▪ Now the summer’s here things are looking up!

things are picking up

▪ We’ve been through a bit of a bad patch, but things are picking up again now.

throw away/pass up/turn down a chance (=not accept or use an opportunity)

▪ Imagine throwing up a chance to go to America!

tie up/moor a boat (=tie it to something so that it stays in one place)

▪ You can tie up the boat to that tree.

▪ How much does it cost to moor a boat here?

tighten (up) the rules (=make them stricter)

▪ The EU has tightened the rules on the quality of drinking water.

time...taken up

▪ The little time I had outside of school was taken up with work.

time’s up (=used to say that the time allowed for something has finished)

▪ Time’s up, class. Put your pens down and hand your papers to the front.

took up the invitation

▪ Rob took up the invitation to visit.

took up...room

▪ The old wardrobe took up too much room.

tooled up

touch up/fix your make-up (=put a little more make-up on after some has come off)

▪ She went into the bathroom to touch up her makeup.

turn the heating down/up

▪ Can you turn the heating down a bit?

turn the radio down/up (=make it quieter or louder)

▪ Can you turn your radio down a bit?

turn the television up/down (=make it louder or quieter)

▪ Rory had turned the television up so loud that the people next door complained.

turn the volume up/down

▪ Can you turn the volume up?

turn up late/early/on time etc

▪ Steve turned up late, as usual.

turned up like...bad penny (=suddenly appeared)

▪ Sure enough, Steve turned up like the proverbial bad penny.

turned up on the doorstep

▪ I got a shock when he just turned up on the doorstep.

type sth up (=type a copy of something written by hand, in note form, or recorded)

▪ I went home to type up the report.

up ahead

▪ We could see the lights of Las Vegas up ahead.

Up until

▪ Up until last year, they didn’t even own a car.

use (up) leave

▪ I used all my leave in the summertime.

use up/exhaust a supply

▪ The diver had nearly used up his supply of oxygen.

wake up to reality (=realize what is happening or real)

▪ Well, they need to wake up to reality.

Wake up (=give me your attention)

▪ Wake up at the back there!

weighing up the pros and cons (=the advantages and disadvantages)

▪ We’re still weighing up the pros and cons of the two options.

went up in flames

▪ The whole building went up in flames.

whip up interest/opposition/support etc

▪ They’ll do anything to whip up a bit of interest in a book.

wind things up

▪ It’s time to wind things up – I have a plane to catch.

wind (up) a clock (=turn a key to keep it working)

▪ It was one of those old clocks that you have to wind up.

worked up a thirst (=done something that made us thirsty)

▪ We had worked up a thirst , and so we decided to stop for a beer.

worked up

▪ You shouldn’t get so worked up about it.

worked...up into a state

▪ She had worked herself up into a state.

wound up

▪ I was too wound up to sleep.

wrap (up) a gift

▪ She had bought and wrapped gifts for children in hospital.

wrap up warm/well

▪ Make sure you wrap up warm – it’s freezing.

wrapped...up warmly

▪ Pat wrapped the baby up warmly.

write up notes (=write down what your notes say, using full sentences and more detail)

▪ It’s a good idea to write up your notes soon after a lecture.

write/draw up/prepare a draft (=write one)

▪ Always write a rough draft of your essay first.

▪ He drew up a draft of the club’s rules and regulations.

COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS

■ VERB

▪ Again her heart is represented by the mechanism from an old lift: she goes up and down as others will her.

▪ The curtain went up, essentially in darkness.

▪ Nurses busily went up and down, sometimes pausing to exchange words and careless laughter.

▪ His first painting goes up for auction on Friday.

▪ Two more models are going up by Wilshire Homes of Austin.

▪ How many businesses that went up in the 1980s might now come down?

▪ Right before the mill closed, production almost cruelly began to go up.

take

▪ The drafting of recommendations is one thing, the taking up of their recommendations is quite another.

▪ Connecticut is assessing high school students in math and science based on team-oriented projects that take up to a semester of work.

▪ The day is taken up with trying to control the child rather than having fun.

▪ Justin has an upper berth on one of two sets of bunk beds that take up most of the tiny room.

▪ Her mind was taken up with puzzling over a fact which had become increasingly clear the longer she stayed in the apartment.

▪ The more space they take up, the larger the object looks.

▪ Since the school took up so much space on the island, the rugby pitches were the size of tennis courts.

▪ Usually when a leader fails, subordinates can take up the reins.

PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES

(keep your) chin up!

▪ Keep your chin up! We'll get through this together!

(right) up your street

▪ Mrs Marriot was a woman up our street who used to sell things in her front room.

▪ So, if that sounds up your street, get your Peak Performance subscription in soon!

▪ This sort of thing should be right up your street.

Wait up!

a kick up the arse/backside/pants etc

▪ He was gormless, spoke in a funny nasal accent and looked as if he could do with a kick up the backside.

▪ I think I just needed a kick up the backside.

▪ They like to see officialdom and the upper classes getting a kick up the backside.

back sb/sth ↔ up

bark up the wrong tree

▪ You're barking up the wrong tree if you think Sam can help you.

▪ Can't help thinking that they are on the right track and it's we who are barking up the wrong tree.

▪ Could he once again be barking up the wrong tree?

▪ However, those who advocate a federal takeover of workers' compensation are barking up the wrong tree.

▪ In retrospect it now seems that both camps were barking up the wrong tree.

▪ People who feel sorry for my old bridesmaid and travelling companion are barking up the wrong tree.

▪ They have maybe barked up the wrong tree.

be (just) coming up to sth

▪ A period when he was almost dead is coming up to the surface.

▪ He had a horrible premonition that she was coming up to Rome.

▪ Manion was coming up to his freeway exit.

be badly cut up

be booked up

▪ I'm all booked up this week, but I can see you on Monday.

▪ Both of the safari buses were booked up solid for the month after that.

▪ But all flights were booked up.

▪ His courses in Wengen and Tignes can be booked up through Supertravel: 01-584 5060.

▪ Nicholas Hytner is booked up years ahead on both opera and theatre.

▪ So it's no surprise that a safety seminar for women was booked up within days of being announced.

be bound up in sth

▪ Jim's too bound up in his own worries to be able to help us.

▪ The history of music is, of course, bound up with the development of musical instruments.

▪ All our limitations are bound up in our intellectual mind with its boundaries and imperfections and its tendency to emotional distortion.

▪ Although activists take on global economic and political issues, their affiliations, allegiances and loyalties are bound up in local communities.

▪ Extension cords that looked frayed or suspicious were bound up in Scotch cellophane tape.

▪ Moral and economic rights are bound up in the concept of copyright.

▪ More usually, the body was bound up in a folded position, with the knees under the chin.

▪ The victim of horrendous physical and emotional abuse, she was failed by all those who were bound up in her care.

▪ These very weak stones are rich in water, which is bound up in both hydrated salts and clay minerals.

be bound up with sth

▪ A most sacred obligation was bound up with a most atrocious crime.

▪ According to a long and dominant tradition, the physical is bound up with the spatial.

▪ But they were important in their time, and their families were bound up with Fred Taylor all his life.

▪ Human rights in general and the right to communicate in particular are bound up with the notion of democracy.

▪ It is bound up with the family as a whole.

▪ The doctrine of precedent is bound up with the need for a reliable system of law reporting.

▪ This therefore brings me to the second reason why democracy is bound up with a measure of economic and social equality.

be bunged up

be burning up

▪ Although it was cold and the air was running out, she was burning up.

▪ In the on-line world, customers were burning up the lines.

▪ In these circumstances, it should be roughly assumed that you would be burning up around 2,000 calories a day.

▪ Think about the calories you are burning up - 200 for every 30 minute walk!

be climbing/crawling (up) the walls

▪ Realizes he is moving in her desperately, as if he is climbing the walls of a closed building.

be coming up

▪ Alison's birthday is coming up.

▪ Don't forget you've got exams coming up in a couple of weeks' time.

▪ Don't forget you have a test coming up on Thursday.

▪ I'm pretty busy right now -- I have exams coming up next week.

▪ Our 12th annual Folk Festival is coming up again soon.

▪ With Christmas coming up, we didn't have much spare money.

▪ Evidently the emergency unit was coming up First, right at us.

▪ Gripping the over head chrome rail, he stooped forward as if to see what street was coming up.

▪ Shops were coming up for sale all over the precinct.

▪ Some faces shone white in the moonlight that was coming up behind a copse.

▪ The sun was coming up as we drove away from Sobey's.

▪ The sun was coming up, or had already come up, and the heavy mists wore a pearlescent glow.

▪ The wind was coming up and there was weather to port. ` Sailing is the perfect antidote for age, Reyes.

▪ When I got out of prison again I went to a hostel in Manchester and he was coming up there all the time.

be coming up roses

be doped (up)

▪ I still half expect the food to be doped.

▪ In February five greyhounds were found to be doped after an £60,000 multi-bet coup in the first race at Canterbury.

▪ Kerr-McGee charged she was doped up with Quaaludes.

be dragged up

▪ Everything that can be dragged up as a skeleton on Mugabe and his underlings must be dragged up.

▪ Her frozen limbs were dragged up an impressively wide staircase and then along a hallway.

▪ I assume a lot of people will laugh at Morrissey for this and the Glastonbury thing will be dragged up again.

▪ The whale will be dragged up its main ramp and butchered.

be drugged up to the eyeballs

be eaten up with/by jealousy/anger/curiosity etc

be got up as/in sth

▪ More visionary railway schemes were got up in the inter-war years.

be gunged up with sth

be gunked up (with sth)

be inextricably linked/bound up/mixed etc

▪ For in fact political theories, doctrines or ideologies, and political action are inextricably bound up with each other.

▪ In her mind the murder and the attack at the Chagall museum were inextricably bound up with the secret of the Durances.

▪ It makes you understand that you are inextricably bound up with each other and that your fortunes depend on one another.

▪ Within the workplace inequality and conflict are inextricably bound up, irrespective of the relationship between particular managements and workforces.

be laid up (with sth)

▪ All was safely gathered in and Mr and Mrs Squirrel Nutkin's hoard was laid up for winter's sustenance.

▪ How much land must you commit to arable rotation, and how much must be laid up for hay or silage?

▪ I don't know how long I shall be laid up with this wretched ankle.

▪ In those days all the cutters were laid up on the trot piles in the river Hamble during the winter months.

▪ It was, and Venturous was laid up at Buckie for nearly ten months while new Cummins engines were fitted.

▪ Large numbers of nuclear-powered submarines are laid up at a harbour near Murmansk.

▪ She had never got used to the hours since John had been made redundant when all the ships were laid up.

▪ The barges, designed to be sailed by one man and a boy, could be laid up in a few days.

be locked up (in sth)

▪ All the back-benchers lit Parliament were locked up along with the six ministers at State House.

▪ His fa-ther was locked up somewhere in a place called Applegate.

▪ I was locked up for nine years, you know that?

▪ It was locked up somewhere round at the back.

▪ Much more was locked up in that house than the storeroom at its core.

▪ That's what Lee had gone home to check, that Caspar was locked up.

be made up

be made up to captain/manager etc

be one up (on sb)/get one up on sb

be penned up/in

be pushing up (the) daisies

▪ It's lucky I was sent here, to Hepzibah, or I'd be pushing up daisies.

be pushing up (the) daisies

▪ It's lucky I was sent here, to Hepzibah, or I'd be pushing up daisies.

be right up there (with sb/sth)

▪ He was right up there on Herron Avenue.

▪ Northampton are right up there in second place.

▪ Number of sunny days is right up there for me, too.

▪ On the trauma scale, this was right up there with an automobile wreck.

be tied up

▪ "May I speak to Professor Smithers?" "I'm sorry. He's tied up at the moment."

▪ I'm sorry, he's tied up at the moment. Could you call back later?

▪ I can't see you tomorrow, I'm tied up all day.

▪ Her hair was tied up in a hair net and the hat was removed and placed to the right of her chest.

▪ Its fixed-interest bond pays 11.50 percent net provided the money is tied up for at least 12 months.. Key move on cards.

▪ Most of this is tied up in grants, salaries and existing programmes, some of them five years long.

▪ No point in fixing dates when television's cameras are tied up elsewhere.

▪ On completion day, the legal ends are tied up, you collect the keys and move into your new home.

▪ Our identity is tied up with being some one who never achieves these goals.

▪ The others were tied up with sickness, special duties, leave and - a key problem - court attendance.

▪ The Tin Woodman and the Scarecrow are destroyed, and the Lion is tied up in your yard.