build up
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
to increase or strengthen something
Literally: to construct upward
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
The traffic starts to build up at this time of day.Xe cộ bắt đầu gia tăng vào thời điểm này trong ngày.
Tatoeba sentence #11377035 (CC BY 2.0 FR, tatoeba.org, retrieved 2026-07-31)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “build up” mean?
to increase or strengthen something Literally: to construct upward
Is “build up” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.