beef up
Meaning(s)
1. increase or improve something
Popularity
Medium
Professional
Low
Social
How to Memorize
beef up sales/operations/security
Analysis
When we 'beef something up', we increase it or make it stronger. If you 'beef up security', for example, you might add more security staff or improve surveillance technology. There aren't many applications of this term, because it doesn't automatically apply to everything you want to improve. You wouldn't say that you want to 'beef up' your staff, for example, because this might sound more like making them individually stronger rather than widening your team of employees! In this sense, people might also talk about a weightlifter 'beefing up', but 'bulking up' is more suited to this aspect of developing strength.
Professional Examples (Advance)
- Due to ongoing concerns over corporate espionage, the firm beefed up their security and reset all computer passwords.
- Sarah felt that the business needed to beef up its online presence in order to increase sales, and called for the adoption of a clicks and mortar strategy.
- Almost as soon as Kevin took charge, he set about beefing up the bank's operations in Asia by ordering the construction of hundreds of new branches throughout the continent.
Social Examples (Advance)
- I lost a lot of weight when I was ill, so now I'm eating and lifting weights to beef myself up.
- I think it's time to beef up the security on my laptop, my friend got hacked last week.