pump up

verb

pumped up; pumping up; pumps up

transitive verb

1
a
: to fill with enthusiasm or excitement
b
: to fill with or as if with air : inflate
2

Examples of pump up in a Sentence

the crowd was pumped up by the band's rocking performance that pop diva is trying to pump up album sales with an extended publicity tour
Recent Examples on the Web On LinkedIn, the company has been pumping up the achievements of Die Werkself, under the inspiring leadership of Spanish coach Xabi Alonso. Tim Loh / Bloomberg, TIME, 17 May 2024 Since last year, broader stock markets have been helped by pumping up companies tied to the new investment craze: artificial intelligence. Rafael Nam, NPR, 16 May 2024 The meme-stock phenomenon became a public frenzy in 2021 as cash-rich investors pumped up the stock market and bet against short-selling hedge funds. Bailey Lipschultz, Fortune, 13 May 2024 Travis Kelce is pumped up for the first night of Taylor Swift's Eras Tour in Paris. Natasha Dye, Peoplemag, 9 May 2024 The warm water is pumped up through these well houses into a pipe system then transferred underground to nearby downtown. Kirk Siegler, NPR, 8 May 2024 Everybody's so pumped up and having a great time ... Hannah Kirby, Journal Sentinel, 7 May 2024 But even Wall Street is wondering if the studio’s reported $1 billion annual spend on films would have been better served by pumping up the volume of product rather than taking a few nine-figure swings. Tatiana Siegel, Variety, 6 Mar. 2024 Both stem from pumping up the voltage in the lines connecting to the encryption key’s bit-generating circuits. IEEE Spectrum, 28 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'pump up.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1791, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of pump up was in 1791

Cite this Entry

“Pump up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pump%20up. Accessed 28 May. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!