Word.ws English Dictionary

firming up

firming up is the present participle and gerund of firm up.

Meaning of firm up

Verb

firm up (third-person singular simple present firms up, present participle firming up, simple past and past participle firmed up)

  1. (idiomatic, transitive) To make (tentative plans) more definite.
    • Can we firm up plans for the barbecue Sunday?
  2. (idiomatic, intransitive) To become more definite.
    • Let me know as soon as your plans firm up.
  3. (transitive) To make (muscles) more toned through physical exercise.
    • He hopes to firm up his biceps a bit before meeting the girls.
  4. (intransitive) To become more toned through physical exercise.
    • After weeks of working out, his biceps finally began to firm up a bit.
  5. (intransitive) To become firmer in consistency.
    • Cook the omelet until the top has started to firm up.

Questions about firming up

What is firming up the present participle and gerund of?
Firming up is the present participle and gerund of firm up.

Words near firming up in the dictionary

  1. firmicutes
  2. Firmin
  3. firming
  4. firming agent
  5. firming agents
  6. firming up
  7. Firminger
  8. firmish
  9. firmisternal
  10. firmitude
  11. firmitudes

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: firming up (page history and authors); firm up (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “firming up.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/firming_up. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.