to touch up
8
3.8
- phrasal verb
- /tʌtʃ ʌp/
:
retocar
- She took a moment to touch up her makeup before stepping out for the evening.
- touch up her makeup
- touch up the paint
- touch up her roots
So I have to touch up my roots with my Clara.
- So I have to touch up my roots with my Clara.
- Lip gloss just to touch up here.
- So I'm only taking a little bit on the sponge and kind of touching up.
Examples
-
I was just gonna touch up my makeup.
-
I'm going to just touch up a couple of places very lightly.
-
We just got a couple things to touch up, but other than that, it's pretty good.
-
Want me to touch up your shoes, sir?
-
And rather than throwing them away, I can use them to touch up these small areas.
-
So First things first, I'm going to just touch up that little spot right there.
-
I need to go into town and find a place to get my highlights touched up.
-
I really liked your essay, but I recommend touching up some of the grammar.
Blog text (9) -
And then once we've done that, we can then touch up the grill with some black paint.
-
Still, he helped Ned and me touch up the side of the house toward the backyard with some paint.
Fiction book (2002)
Synonyms
268
3.2
Make small changes to something to make it more useful
93
4.0
Make something better by making a few small changes
81
3.8
To make small changes to improve something
56
3.4
Make something look nicer or more attractive for a special event
22
4.1
To make something better by small changes
13
3.8
To make yourself or a place look cleaner and nicer
10
6.3
To make something more beautiful by adding decorative details
9
3.2
To make a place or person more attractive by adding decorations like paint
8
4.2
To make small changes to the look of hair or a photo
4
3.0
Make a room look cleaner and nicer with small changes
3
8.0
To make something look neater and more attractive with small changes
1
7.2
Make a person or place look neater and nicer by cleaning and adding small things
1
2.5
Put paint on something to make it look better
1
5.8
To make something better in how it works or how it looks
1
5.0
Make something look more attractive, often only on the surface
To make something more attractive by adding new parts
To make something old look new by fixing or cleaning it
Antonyms
How Improved
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to make small changes or improvements' is directly derivable from combining 'touch' (to retouch or make slight contact) with the particle 'up' (which here signals completion or enhancement). This verb + particle composition is a common, cross-linguistically transparent pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Touch up comes from painting and repair work: someone would touch a small spot with a brush to bring the color or finish up to the right look. That's why it means 'to make small changes or improvements', especially to improve how something looks.