work up en · VERB
Meanings
-
To raise; to excite; to stir up.
He worked up the public's passions to rage.
In the eyes of Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke the apotheosis of the Celebrity was complete. The people of Asquith were not only willing to attend the house-warming, but had been worked up to the pitch of eagerness.
1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
-
To develop.
work up a sweat
I shall have worked up an appetite with all this heavy work.
"See how it's working up; we shall have thunder and lightning."
1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 185:"As evidence of the degraded nature of the prisoner's mind," said Quin. "That's what they call working up a case."
1913, Norman Lindsay, A Curate in Bohemia, Sydney: N.S.W. Bookstall Co., published 1932, page 127:
- (transitive) To give (a patient) a general medical examination to assess health and fitness.
- (obsolete, transitive) To use up (material, etc.).
- (obsolete) To set at an irksome or needless task.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| working up | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| works up | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| worked up | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| worked up | Tense=Past | lexicographic |
Relateds
Synonyms
exhilarate · awaken · kindle · animate · wind up · fillip · gin up · enthrill · rouse · rouse · whet · work up · set on fire · enkindle · sharpen · yerk · wake · stir the blood · inflame · intoxicate · ignite · exsuscitate · warm the blood · vitalise · enflame · send · galvanize · exagitate · excite · fire · electrify · set fire to · suscitate · fire the blood · quicken · thrill
Translations (16)
pl wzniecić (to raise; to excite; to stir up.) · pl podburzyć (to raise; to excite; to stir up.) · pl podburzać (to raise; to excite; to stir up.) · pl pobudzić (to raise; to excite; to stir up.) · pl rozbudzić (to develop) · es dar (to develop) · pl wzniecać (to raise; to excite; to stir up.) · pl rozwinąć (to develop) · es abrir (to develop) · es desarrollar (to develop) · pl rozwijać (to develop) · es levantar (to develop) · pl pobudzać (to raise; to excite; to stir up.) · pl ożywić (to raise; to excite; to stir up.) · pl rozbudzać (to develop) · pl ożywiać (to raise; to excite; to stir up.)