big up

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English

Pronunciation

Verb

big up (third-person singular simple present bigs up, present participle bigging up, simple past and past participle bigged up or (rare) big upped)

  1. (transitive, informal) To increase one's muscle mass.
    • 2007, David Handler, The Bright Silver Star: A Berger and Mitry Mystery:
      She was bigged up—had a weight-lifter's rippling arms.
  2. (informal) To become big.
    • 2012, Caspar Henderson, The Book of Barely Imagined Beings, page 83:
      Relatively simple multicellular forms had already existed for a hundred million years when the Cambrian began: the explosion had a long fuse, and during this earlier fizzling life experimented with various ways to big up.
  3. (slang, transitive) To behave confidently and proudly.
  4. (slang, transitive) To proclaim or exaggerate the importance of; to promote.
    I want to big up my bro on the mic.
    They're trying to big themselves up to be more than they are.
    • 2007, Apple announces new mobile phone, BBC Online, 9 January 2007
      In a keynote speech, attended by over 2,000 people, Steve Jobs spent the first 10 minutes bigging up the move to Intel chips.
    • 2017, Daniel Tammet, Every Word is a Bird We Teach to Sing, →ISBN, page 162:
      Some say of me, "There's Adrian again in the media, bigging himself up.
    • 2022 August 24, Stephen Roberts, “Bradshaw's Britain: the Cotswold Line”, in RAIL, number 964, page 61:
      Bradshaw bigs up local trades: "Agricultural produce, good cider and perry (which require a little brandy to qualify them), wool, hops, and prime cattle, - the last being a splendid breed, white-faced, with soft reddish-brown coats. [...]."

Synonyms

Noun

big up (plural big ups)

  1. (slang, also big ups) Significant respect or acclaim.
    I want to give a big up to my bro on the mic.

Synonyms

See also

Jamaican Creole

Etymology

From English big.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈbɪɡ(h)ʌp/
  • Hyphenation: big‧up

Verb

big up

  1. (imperative, reflexive) To be thought of as praiseworthy by someone else ; to have someone's respect. (display of affection or praise)
    Me just want to say big up yourself, General.
    I'd just like to say that you have my respect, Sir.
    • 2010, Ardenne High Grade 13 (class of 2010), Ardenne High Grade 13 Year book 2010 (in Jamaican Creole), page 18:
      “Yuh kno seh a bear tings a go gwaan from wi touch six form. Big up wi teacha dem […] ”
      You knew that we were going to get up to a lot of stuff once we entered 13th grade. Teachers, we respect you
  2. good to see you; nice to see you (greeting)
    Big up yuhself!
    Nice to see you (again)!
  3. praise, commend (praise)
    Big up Miss Lou!
    Let's praise Miss Lou!

Alternative forms

References

  • big up – jamaicans.com Jamaican Patois dictionary
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