build up meaning

build up as a verb

1. enlarge, develop, or increase by degrees or in stages
   • build up your savings

   Type of: increase

   Related forms: buildup

2. form or accumulate steadily
   • Resistance to the manager's plan built up quickly
   • Pressure is building up at the Indian-Pakistani border

   Synonyms: work up, build, progress

   Type of: develop

3. prepare oneself for a military confrontation
   • The U.S. is girding for a conflict in the Middle East
   • troops are building up on the Iraqi border

   Synonyms: arm, fortify, gird

   Kinds: rearm, forearm

4. bolster or strengthen
   • We worked up courage
   • build up confidence
   • ramp up security in the airports

   Synonyms: work up, build, ramp up

   Type of: increase

5. change the use of and make available or usable
   • develop land
   • The country developed its natural resources
   • The remote areas of the country were gradually built up

   Synonyms: develop

   Type of: better

   Kinds: redevelop, settle

How to pronounce build up

build up is pronounced /bɪld ʌp/ in British English and /bɪld ʌp/ in American English. It has 2 syllables.