bigging up

Verb

big up (third-person singular simple present bigs up, present participle bigging up, simple past and past participle bigged up or (rare) big upped)

1. (informal, transitive) To increase one's muscle mass.
   • She was bigged up—had a weight-lifter's rippling arms.2007, David Handler, The Bright Silver Star: A Berger and Mitry Mystery

   Synonyms:

   build up, bulk up, pump iron, work out

2. (informal) To become big.
   • Relatively simple multicellular forms had already existed for a hundred million years when the Cambrian began: the explosion had a long fuse, and during this earlier fizzling life experimented with various ways to big up.2012, Caspar Henderson, The Book of Barely Imagined Beings, page 83

   Synonyms:

   enlarge

3. (slang, transitive) To behave confidently and proudly.
4. (slang, transitive) To proclaim or exaggerate the importance of; to promote.
   • I want to big up my bro on the mic.

   Synonyms:

   overemphasize, overplay, play up, sell, cut it fat, exaggerate, hyperbolize, overcharge, overdo, overstate

See all 5 meanings of big up