buoy up
verb1
Figuratively, Idiomatic To uplift, hearten, inspire, or raise the spirits of.
- I have supported with very great zeal, and I am told with some degree of success, those opinions, or if his Grace likes another expression better, those old prejudices, which buoy up the ponderous mass of his nobility, wealth, and title.1796, Edmund Burke, A letter from the Right Honourable Edmund Burke to a noble lord: on the attacks made upon him and his pension, London: J. Owen and F. & C. Rivington:
- With this training complete, and the crews of his cruisers and destroyers somewhat buoyed up by the experience, he then headed into the seas around Guadalcanal on the 9th[…]2020 December 9, Drachinifel, 7:05 from the start, in Guadalcanal Campaign - Cape Esperance (IJN 1 : 2 USN), archived from the original on 04 Dec 2022:
2
Idiomatic To keep afloat; to provide with buoyancy.