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Glite Dictionary
📝 To prepare formally 📰 To report publicly
to write up

to write up

90 3.5
Put information into a complete report
  • phrasal verb
  • /ˈraɪt ʌp/
: redactar
  • If you have a good memory and lots of time, you can write up your notes after the employee leaves.
  • write up a report
  • write up the findings
  • write up the results

I give it to you and then you write up my message in your style.

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Examples

  • In terms of social action, the students were asked to write up these analyses for real purposes and audiences.

    Academic text (2015)

  • Sorry, kids, but I have to go write up this report before I can do anything.

    Spy Kids: All the Time in the World (2011)

  • I give it to you and then you write up my message in your style.

    Shawn Ryan Show

  • Take it, run with it, and then write up a paper.

  • You write up the report.

    Caught in the Crossfire (2010)

  • At the end of the week, each student writes up a report in the computer lab.

    Academic text (1994)

  • Following the examination, the two men of science retired to write up their reports.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • After each urban walk, the children used the collected data to write up their findings and make graphs.

    Academic text (1998)

  • Before the meeting, I need to write up the minutes from our last discussion.

  • After conducting the research, she will write up her findings in a formal report.

Synonyms

to draw up
vsto write up
111 3.7

To prepare and write official papers such as contracts or wills

focuses on final complete formal form rather than initial drafting
to write out
vsto write up
59 2.4

Put all the details on a form or paper

is focused on making information fully formal and complete overall
to pen
vsto write up
  • Literature
38 6.0

To write something carefully, often a long text

focuses on completing and formalizing information for documents rather than literary creation
to set forth
vsto write up
  • Formal
36 4.2

To state something clearly in writing or speech

is about converting information into a finished formal written form rather than only presenting
to set down
vsto write up
18 3.8

To write words or information so they are recorded

emphasizes making overall information formal and complete instead of just recording

Antonyms

to neglect
189 3.8

Fail to care for someone or something you should look after

How Complete

to write up
90 3.5
to draft
122 3.7
to write down
538 1.1
to jot down
  • Informal
33 2.9

Surface Forms

write up infinitive
wrote up past
written up past participle
writing up present participle
writes up third person singular

Morphology

write + up

The verb 'write' combined with the particle 'up' can be partially interpreted by a B1 learner because 'up' often adds a completive/intensifying or promotive sense (e.g., write something fully, produce a formal account), so the idea of producing a written report is reasonably derivable. However, the specific sense 'to bring someone or something to public notice by writing about them' (i.e. reporting/publicising with praise or criticism) is more idiomatic and not fully predictable from the parts without prior exposure, so it is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Write up comes from the idea of turning quick notes into a full, finished piece of writing, where write is the act and up shows the work is complete. Imagine scribbles becoming a neat, complete report, and you see why it means 'to put information into a complete or formal written form'.