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Glite Dictionary
to limber up

to limber up

2 3.4
Prepare your body for exercise by stretching or doing light movements
  • phrasal verb
  • /ˈlɪmbər ʌp/
  • Informal
translation icon : calentarse
  • To prepare for the dance competition, I always limber up with some light exercises.
  • needs to limber up
  • limber up tight neck muscles

Although if it is, you must really have to limber up before leg day.

Examples

  • Guys like McKinney used me to limber up for real fights.

    Joe Somebody (2001)

  • Before starting the workout, it's important to limber up by stretching your muscles.

  • Although if it is, you must really have to limber up before leg day.

    The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

  • You better limber up, son.

    The Condemned (2007)

  • Mind if we limber up first?

    M*A*S*H (1970)

  • But there he was, as usual, limbering up before his run.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • They limbered up and rolled off.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • All limbered up?

    Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014)

  • Sissy hands the decibel monitor to Chrissy and takes a few steps back, shaking her hands to limber up.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • The coach reminded the players to limber up to prevent injuries during practice.

Synonyms

to stretch
vsto limber up
185 1.5

Move part of your body to full length to make muscles less tight

prepares the body for activity using long holds and gentle movements
to warm up
vsto limber up
95 2.2

Do gentle exercises to prepare the body for harder activity

prepares mainly by gentle exercises to ready the body for activity
to loosen up
vsto limber up
  • Informal
8 3.0

To make muscles less tight and more ready for exercise by stretching

prepares muscles and joints for exercise by gentle movement
to limber
vsto limber up
4 4.8

To make the body or muscles bend and move easily by warming up

prepares the body specifically for upcoming physical activity

Antonyms

to rest
816 1.0

To stop activity to relax or sleep and get energy back

to cool down
28 1.1

Become less hot or make something less hot

How Ready

to warm up
95 2.2
to limber up
  • Informal
2 3.4
to stretch
185 1.5

Surface Forms

limber up infinitive
limbered up past
limbered up past participle
limbering up present participle
limbers up third person singular

Morphology

limber + up

The verb 'limber' already means to perform exercises to become supple, and the particle 'up' adds a sense of completion/intensification (as in 'warm up' or 'loosen up'), so the instruction to 'limber up' is directly derivable from its parts. This verb+up compositional pattern is cross-linguistically common and follows standard English particle-verb formation, making it immediately comprehensible to learners who know the constituents.

Etymology

Limber up comes from the idea of making your body limber by gently bending and stretching your arms and legs so they move easily. So, it means 'to prepare your body for exercise'.