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🔋 To recharge battery ⚡ To excite
to charge up

to charge up

4 3.5
To connect a battery or device to electricity so it has power
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : cargar
  • So this can charge up like the new Macbooks and all that.
  • charge up a battery

Oh, you charge up your friend's Airpods in a pinch.

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Examples

  • If you leave now, I'll get it charged up and drop it off tonight.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • France is moving toward electrification of its auto fleet, and they'll need more to charge up all the cars.

  • You take that and charge it up for me?

    Uncut Gems (2019)

  • Hopefully she would have charged up her phone.

    Blog text (18)

  • Batteries are probably flat, but I can charge them up easy enough.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • So you plug into the wall right here, and then it goes into our battery, which charges up with battery juice.

  • And so we need to charge up the batteries while the solar and wind are are firing.

  • I guess it's already charged up a little bit for me, but I'm going to charge these up and look how cool we have LED lights to go.

    Laura Lee

  • Having my workout clothes ready the night before, my MP3 player charged up and ready to go does it for me.

    Blog text (7)

  • I need to charge up my laptop before the meeting starts.

Synonyms

to charge
vsto charge up
156 2.3

Put electricity into a battery or device

focuses on restoring battery power by connecting a device to a power source
to recharge
vsto charge up
29 3.6

To put power back into a battery or device by plugging it in

focuses on restoring power specifically by connecting to a power source
to electrify
vsto charge up
  • Specialized
20 4.2

To give a building, machine, or vehicle electricity so it can work

applies to restoring stored battery power by linking the device to a power source
to charge my phone
vsto charge up
3 1.0

Plug a phone into a charger to make the battery work again

is the general process of restoring battery power to many devices
to reenergize
vsto charge up
  • Specialized
4.6

To give electrical power again to a machine or system after it is turned off

is for connecting power to batteries or devices even without prior shutdown

Antonyms

to drain
189 3.4

To slowly use up energy, money, or other resources

How Charged

to top up
3 3.2
to charge up
4 3.5
connected
  • Specialized
2.7

Surface Forms

charge up infinitive
charged up past
charged up past participle
charging up present participle
charges up third person singular

Morphology

charge + up

The meaning 'to restore electrical power' is directly derivable from 'charge' (to supply with electrical energy) combined with the particle 'up', which here signals completion or an increase in charge. This verb + particle composition is a common, compositional pattern in English and should be immediately understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.

Etymology

Charge up comes from the literal act of putting electricity into a battery: charge means to add electric power and up suggests filling it. So to charge up a device is 'to put electricity into it' to restore its power.