to gas up
10
1.9
- phrasal verb
- /ɡæs ʌp/
- Informal
:
repostar
- Before we hit the road, let's gas up the car at the station.
- gas up the car
- gas up the truck
- gas up the jet
But Jared, just in case, gas up the Bronco now.
- But Jared, just in case, gas up the Bronco now.
- But, but if I took that Harley and took it to the people on the Mayflower, gassed it up, loaded it up, got it already took it back in time.
Examples
-
We'll fly south, gas up in Ixtapa, and keep going.
-
You run on out and gas up the Ford.
-
I took a wrong turn and came here to gas up.
-
Tell him to gas up my plane.
-
Hey, if we're gonna pull this off, we gotta gas up.
-
Because when we stopped to gas up, I put the card back in your wallet.
-
Two fuel trucks are moved in to gas up the aircraft.
Fiction book (1995) -
I ran into Dick at the garage today when I dropped by to gas up the car.
Fiction book (1995) -
- Gas up the Cadillac.
-
Related to this, if you know that a big storm or blizzard is headed your way, gas up those vehicles!
Blog text (7)
Synonyms
90
1.3
Close a hole or gap by putting material into it
88
2.0
To put a substance that makes energy into a vehicle or machine so it runs
30
3.0
To put more petrol or gas into a vehicle so it can go on
5
1.3
To fill a vehicle with fuel for its engine
Antonyms
How Full
Surface Forms
Morphology
gas + up
The slang sense 'to praise or hype' is not directly derivable from the literal sense of 'gas' (to add petrol) and a missing dictionary entry for 'up', but it can be seen as a metaphorical extension where 'gas' = energize and 'up' intensifies (similar to 'pump up'). Because this requires a figurative mapping and informal register knowledge, a B1 learner who only knows the literal constituents would only sometimes infer the meaning without prior exposure.
Etymology
Gas up comes from the everyday action of putting gas into a car's tank, with up showing that you fill it. So it means 'to put fuel in a vehicle'.