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 team signed closer Pete Fairbanks to beef up the back end of a bullpen that was relied upon a lot last season (Miami’s 631 1/3 innings pitched by relievers were the fifth-most in MLB).
—
Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 7 Feb. 2026
The union agreement included a promise by the Dodgers to beef up security.
—Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 5 Feb. 2026
Since last fall, Nike has beefed up its boot offerings by reviving both the Air Max Goadome and Bolotoro silhouettes.
—Ian Servantes, Footwear News, 3 Feb. 2026
At least 16 states have adopted policies aimed at regulating the use and retention of data collected by license plate readers, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, though efforts in several states to beef up privacy protections failed to advance.
—CBS News, 3 Feb. 2026
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.
Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 7 Feb. 2026
The union agreement included a promise by the Dodgers to beef up security.
—Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 5 Feb. 2026
Since last fall, Nike has beefed up its boot offerings by reviving both the Air Max Goadome and Bolotoro silhouettes.
—Ian Servantes, Footwear News, 3 Feb. 2026
At least 16 states have adopted policies aimed at regulating the use and retention of data collected by license plate readers, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, though efforts in several states to beef up privacy protections failed to advance.
—CBS News, 3 Feb. 2026
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 14 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
