work up
verb1
To raise; to excite; to stir up.
- He worked up the public's passions to rage.
- In the eyes of Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke the apotheosis of the Celebrity was complete. The people of Asquith were not only willing to attend the house-warming, but had been worked up to the pitch of eagerness.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
2
To develop.
- work up a sweat
- I shall have worked up an appetite with all this heavy work.
2 more examples
- "See how it's working up; we shall have thunder and lightning."1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 185:
- "As evidence of the degraded nature of the prisoner's mind," said Quin. "That's what they call working up a case."1913, Norman Lindsay, A Curate in Bohemia, Sydney: N.S.W. Bookstall Co., published 1932, page 127:
3
Medicine, Sciences To give (a patient) a general medical examination to assess health and fitness.
4
Obsolete To use up (material, etc.).
- Related terms
- work up to