spruce-up

[ sproos-uhp ]

noun

1. an act of cleaning up, refurbishing, renovating, or the like.

spruce up

verb

1. adverb to make (oneself, a person, or thing) smart and neat

Word History and Origins

Origin of spruce-up¹

Noun use of verb phrase spruce up

Idioms and Phrases

Make neat and trim, as in She spruced up the chairs with new cushions . This idiom originated in the late 1500s as simply spruce but had acquired up by 1676.

Related Words

• dress up
• fix up
• primp
• tidy