crank-up

[ krangk-uhp ]

noun

1. an act or instance of cranking up.

crank up

verb

1. to increase (loudness, output, etc)

   he cranked up his pace

2. to set in motion or invigorate

   news editors have to crank up tired reporters

3. intr, adverb to inject a narcotic drug

Word History and Origins

Origin of crank-up¹

First recorded in 1905–10; noun use of verb phrase crank up

Example Sentences

Can the British government afford to crank up defence spending more quickly?

From BBC

The musicians cranked up the amplifiers, and Stills sang a verse of Young’s bristling standard, which landed Saturday like an angrier follow-up to the Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth.”

From Los Angeles Times

He cranked up the volume and struck that chord.

From Los Angeles Times

Farmers wait for the perfect weather window, then crank up the combine, whatever the day or the hour, to get the harvest home.

From BBC

They found that this gene desert contains an 'enhancer', a section of DNA that is like a volume dial for nearby genes, able to crank up the amount of proteins they make.

From Science Daily