crank up
Turn it up
Crank up means to increase intensity, volume, or effort.
You crank up the music, crank up production, or crank up the pressure.
The image comes from hand-cranking machinery to get it running—cranking up an old car engine or phonograph.
To crank something up is also simply to start it: Let's crank up the grill.
The phrase suggests deliberate escalation: They cranked up their rhetoric as the election approached.
boost
Upward push or increase
pump up · dial up · heighten · intensify · maximize · louder · volume · blast · blare · full blast
engine
Machine producing motion
kickstart · fire up · start up · power up · activate · spark · key · cold start · rev · idle
- intensifyintensify, boost, amp up, amplify, escalate
- liftinglift, hoist, crane, elevate, raise
- Starting upignition, kickstart, jump start, boot up, power on
- growthgrowth, grow, growing, growth rate, increase
- activateturn on, switch on, power on, power up, start
- improveimprove, enhance, better, refine, upgrade