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Glite Dictionary
to mush up

to mush up

4.9
To crush food until it becomes soft and smooth
  • phrasal verb
  • /mʌʃ ʌp/
translation icon : hacer puré
  • After boiling the vegetables, I will mush up the mixture to make a creamy soup.

Examples

  • That's what I normally do is I just take all the inside of the potato out, mush it up with all the ingredients.

  • To make the filling for the pie, you need to mush up the berries until they are smooth.

  • Very you can't just mush up an eggplant and call it a day.

  • But say you had the option of being like, you know what, I'm going to mush it up and I'm going to mix it in this pasta sauce so we can barely taste it.

  • In the recipe, it says to mush up the avocado before spreading it on the toast.

Synonyms

to mash
vsto mush up
121 1.4

To press or crush something until it becomes soft

emphasizes blending into a smooth pulp rather than only losing shape
to smoosh
vsto mush up
  • Informal
4 7.9

To press something so it becomes flat or misshapen

implies blending and smoothing into a pulpy texture instead of flattening
to mush
vsto mush up
2 4.2

To crush or mash something until it becomes soft

focuses more on mixing into a smooth pulpy mixture
to squoosh
vsto mush up
  • Informal
1 8.2

To press something until it becomes flat or loses its shape

stresses mixing into a smooth pulpy result more than squashing

Antonyms

to solidify
55 4.4

To change from a liquid or gas into a hard state as it cools

How Pulpy

to liquefy
  • Specialized
18 4.4
to puree
15 4.0
to mush up
4.9
to crush
401 1.6

Surface Forms

mush up infinitive
mushed up past
mushed up past participle
mushing up present participle
mushes up third person singular

Morphology

mush + up

The meaning 'to crush, mix, or blend until pulpy' is directly derivable from 'mush' (to press or mash into a soft pulp) combined with the particle 'up' which adds a sense of completion or intensification. This verb+particle composition is a regular, productive pattern in English and is likely understandable to a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.

Etymology

Mush up comes from the image of making something into mush by pressing or crushing it up; imagine squashing bananas or potatoes until they are soft and smooth, so it means 'to crush or blend until soft'.