beefing up
Making more robust
Beefing up means strengthening, reinforcing, or adding substance to something.
You beef up security after a threat, beef up a résumé before job hunting, or beef up an argument with better evidence.
The image is of adding muscle—making something more substantial or powerful: They're beefing up the roster before playoffs.
- buildupGradual accumulation over time
- building upIncreasing gradually
- increaseGrowth in amount
- augmentingIncreasing by addition
- enhanceIncrease in quality
stepping up · improvement · shoring up · reinforcing · fortify · amplifying · intensifying · doubling down · bolstering · supercharging · strengthening · upgrading · pumping up · consolidating · bulking · hypertrophy · bracing · expanding
- intensificationamplification, escalation, heightening, intensification, magnification
beefing upweakening
Becoming less strong
enfeebling · debilitating · undermining · sapping · emasculating
beefing upreducing
Making less or smaller
shrinking · scaling down · downsizing · cutting back · diminishing