to build up

Definition of to build up in English English dictionary: To strengthen
They had to build up their fortress to protect against attack.; To accumulate, to pile up, to increase in stages
Ever since the secretary left, the letters in my inbox have started to build up.; bolster or strengthen; "We worked up courage"; "build up confidence"; "ramp up security in the airports"; form or accumulate steadily; "Resistance to the manager's plan built up quickly"; "Pressure is building up at the Indian-Pakistani border"; If you build someone up, you help them to feel stronger or more confident, especially when they have had a bad experience or have been ill. Build her up with kindness and a sympathetic ear; Building by placing a card of a higher rank on to a card of a lower rank is permitted Usually implies a difference of only one ranking between the two cards Example: Placing a Queen on a Jack is good, but placing a Queen on a King is not; If you build up something or if it builds up, it gradually becomes bigger, for example because more is added to it. The regime built up the largest army in Africa Slowly a thick layer of fat builds up on the pan's surface; Building by placing a card of a higher rank on to a card of one lower rank is permitted Example: Placing a Queen on a Jack is good, but placing a Queen on a King is not; If you build someone or something up, you make them seem important or exciting, for example by talking about them a lot. The media will report on it and the tabloids will build it up Historians built him up as the champion of parliament see also build 6, 8, build-up, built-up; prepare oneself for a military confrontation; "The U S is girding for a conflict in the Middle East"; "troops are building up on the Iraqui border"; {f} construct, build (something new); publicize, advertise, bring to the attention of the public, promote; intensify, strengthen, increase; The removal of old filling material and decay from a worn-out tooth and bonding with tooth-colored composite resin to create a solid foundation for a cap or crown; enlarge, develop, or increase by degrees or in stages; "build up your savings"; bolster or strengthen; "We worked up courage"; "build up confidence"; "ramp up security in the airports; 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"