step-up

or step·up

[ step-uhp ]

/ ˈstɛpˌʌp /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR step-up ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

effecting an increase.

Electricity. serving to increase voltage: a step-up transformer.

(of a lease) allowing for gradual rent increases to the highest amount permissible.

noun

an increase or rise in the rate or quantity of something.

Origin of step-up

First recorded in 1890–95; adj., noun use of verb phrase step up

Words nearby step-up

stepsister, stepson, stepstool, steptoe, step turn, step-up, stepwise, -ster, steradian, sterco-, stercobilin

Dictionary.com UnabridgedBased on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for step-up

It was attached to a step-up transformer that converted the current to 230 volts.
Fish Populations, Following a Drought, in the Neosho and Marais des Cygnes Rivers of Kansas|James Everett Deacon
The transformation from a relatively low voltage to the high one is effected by means of what is called a step-up transformer.
Every-day Science: Volume VI. The Conquest of Nature|Henry Smith Williams
The former is called "step-up" while the latter is a "step-down" transformer.
Physics|Willis Eugene Tower
Barely touched 'em—current something less than a thousandth of a micro-ampere on a million to one step-up.
Skylark Three|Edward Elmer Smith

British Dictionary definitions for step-up

step up

verb (adverb) informal

(tr) to increase or raise by stages; accelerate

(intr) to make progress or effect an advancement; be promoted

step up to the plate US

baseball to move into batting position
to come forward and take responsibility for something

adjective step-up (prenominal)

(of a transformer) increasing a low voltage applied to the primary winding to a higher voltage on the secondary windingCompare step down (def. 4)

informal involving a rise by stages

noun step-up

informal an increment in quantity, size, etc

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Idioms and Phrases with step-up