build (sb/sth) up
— phrasal verb with build uk/bɪld/us/bɪld/verb built, built
C1 to increase or become larger or stronger, or to cause someone or something to do this:
Tension is building up between the two communities.
They gave him soup to build up his strength.
It took her ten years to build up her publishing business.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Increasing and intensifying
- -ify
- a snowball effect idiom
- accretion
- accumulate
- accumulative
- add fuel to the fire idiom
- balloon
- bump
- dial
- heighten
- hot up
- increase
- increment
- pile
- rack
- speed-up
- spurt
- step
- step sth up
- supersize
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You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:
Enlarging and inflating
Becoming bigger