chirk up

verb — 2 senses

chirk up

verb

1

Idiomatic To make more cheerful; to cause to perk up.

"Well, I think," said Mis' Jane Moran, "that we've hit on the only way we could have hit on to chirk each other up over a hard time."1912, Zona Gale, Christmas:
My idea was to chirk him up at the start.1917, Sewell Ford, Wilt Thou Torchy:

2

Idiomatic To become more cheerful; to perk up or become animated or enthusiastic.

"Go ahead," he says, and I see Jim chirk up to listen.1894, Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens), Tom Sawyer Abroad:
Now you jest wipe your eyes and chirk up.1908, Grace Livingston Hill Lutz, Marcia Schuyler:

1 more example

She was terrified but in control. n. How, on the trip around the country my parents took the year after my birth, their mood sank so low that even my brother sensed it. "Chirk up, guys," he said. "Chirk up." They laughed at that.2006, Anna Cypra Oliver, Assembling My Father: A Daughter's Detective Story, page 10:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.