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
Trump’s tax and spending cut bill passed last year gave Immigration and Customs Enforcement about $75 billion to expand detention capacity and beef up enforcement operations.
—
Kevin Freking, Los Angeles Times, 11 Feb. 2026
Reality and perception count CATS has beefed up security in recent months.
—Caitlin McGlade, Charlotte Observer, 10 Feb. 2026
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
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
See All Example Sentences for beef up
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Kevin Freking, Los Angeles Times, 11 Feb. 2026
Reality and perception count CATS has beefed up security in recent months.
—Caitlin McGlade, Charlotte Observer, 10 Feb. 2026
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
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
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 16 Feb. 2026.
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