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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

buoy up en · VERB

Pronunciation

Meanings

  1. (figuratively, idiomatic, transitive) To uplift, hearten, inspire, or raise the spirits of.
    • I have supported with very great zeal, and I am told with some degree of success, those opinions, or if his Grace likes another expression better, those old prejudices, which buoy up the ponderous mass of his nobility, wealth, and title. 1796, Edmund Burke, A letter from the Right Honourable Edmund Burke to a noble lord: on the attacks made upon him and his pension, London: J. Owen and F. & C. Rivington:
    • With this training complete, and the crews of his cruisers and destroyers somewhat buoyed up by the experience, he then headed into the seas around Guadalcanal on the 9th[…] 2020 December 9, Drachinifel, 7:05 from the start, in Guadalcanal Campaign - Cape Esperance (IJN 1 : 2 USN), archived from the original on 04 Dec 2022:
  2. (idiomatic, transitive) To keep afloat; to provide with buoyancy.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
buoying up Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
buoys up Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
buoyed up Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
buoyed up Tense=Past lexicographic

Translations (8)

de beleben (uplift) · de aufrechterhalten (uplift) · de flott halten (uplift) · fr encourager (uplift) · bg ободрявам (uplift) · mi whakatere (keep afloat) · de Auftrieb geben (uplift) · bg обнадеждавам (uplift)