to brush up on
19
3.5
- phrasal verb
- /brʌʃ ʌp ɑn/
:
repasar
- She decided to brush up on her Spanish before the trip to Mexico.
They've also got their own podcast, so you can brush up on your French and Spanish on the go.
- They've also got their own podcast, so you can brush up on your French and Spanish on the go.
- So I went back and brushed up on sort of Jewish rituals and.
- My word, I need to brush up on my sizes.
- But I would really encourage people who aren't familiar with this legislation to brush up on the law, brush up on what what you can do.
Examples
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Before the exam, I need to brush up on my math skills.
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Brush up on your Italian.
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I gotta brush up on the steps.
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I expect to brush up on some of them in Europe this summer.
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Why not take a moment to brush up on what the law requires?
Blog text (19) -
I would love to see it just to brush up on my tech.
Blog text (27) -
We have to brush up on your hospitality skills.
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I'm going to get some books to brush up on my Korean.
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Yes, and brush up on your interpersonal relations.
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I went out and bought a sailing manual to brush up on the terminology.
Academic text (2013)
Synonyms
106
1.8
To study something again to remember it better
22
3.7
Refresh your knowledge or skill by practising and reviewing
13
4.1
To study or practice something you once knew but forgot
1
6.5
To learn or help someone remember how to use something again after not using it for a while
Antonyms
How Prepared
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense 'to review or refresh knowledge' is a metaphorical extension of 'brush' (literally to clean) combined with 'up' (completion/augmentation), so the parts hint at a renewing action but do not yield a literal meaning. A B1 learner who knows the constituents might infer a sense of improving or refreshing, but the specific phrasal-verb usage and particle+preposition pattern are not fully predictable without prior exposure.
Etymology
The phrasal verb brush up on comes from the simple image of using a brush to clean something that has got dusty or old. If you brush something up you make it fresh again, so the phrase means 'to review or improve' knowledge or a skill you have not used for a while.