beef up
phrasal verb
beefed up; beefing up; beefs up
informal
: to add weight, strength, or power to (something)
Security around the city will be beefed up during the event.
a politician looking to beef his image up
Examples of beef up in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
And the Patriots’ run defense got pushed around again despite beefing up its personnel?
—
Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 23 Dec. 2025
Spanos agreed to pledge to Harbaugh top NFL dollar and beef up the franchise’s skimpy infrastructure.
—Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Dec. 2025
Helping to beef up the lore around the Quesarito, Restrepo said, was the viral 2014 moment when Jokić's NBA draft pick slipped by almost unnoticed as it was eclipsed by a Quesarito launch ad airing at the same time.
—Deirdre Bardolf, FOXNews.com, 20 Dec. 2025
The deal will help Pfizer beef up and diversify its obesity drug pipeline after a string of setbacks, including its decisions to scrap two different pills over the past two years.
—Annika Kim Constantino, CNBC, 9 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for beef up
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 23 Dec. 2025
Spanos agreed to pledge to Harbaugh top NFL dollar and beef up the franchise’s skimpy infrastructure.
—Tom Krasovic, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 Dec. 2025
Helping to beef up the lore around the Quesarito, Restrepo said, was the viral 2014 moment when Jokić's NBA draft pick slipped by almost unnoticed as it was eclipsed by a Quesarito launch ad airing at the same time.
—Deirdre Bardolf, FOXNews.com, 20 Dec. 2025
The deal will help Pfizer beef up and diversify its obesity drug pipeline after a string of setbacks, including its decisions to scrap two different pills over the past two years.
—Annika Kim Constantino, CNBC, 9 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for beef up
Cite this Entry
“Beef up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/beef%20up. Accessed 31 Dec. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share