Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- intransitive verb To improve in appearance or stylishness; spruce up.
- intransitive verb To make quicker.
- intransitive verb To make oneself smart or smarter.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To make smart or spruce; render brisk, bright, or lively: often with up.
- To smart; be pained.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb colloq. To make smart or spruce; -- usually with
up .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb To make
smarter in appearance; torefurbish orspruce up - verb To
increase speed
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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But expect is the operative word and unless the labels smarten up, that definitely won`t be the case.
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Energy Secretary Steven Chu claims it will cost more than $100 billion to modernize and "smarten" the grid.
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The Philadelphia Quakers have collected $15,000, to "smarten" them up, but Veregin has declined to accept the money.
Janey Canuck in the West Emily Ferguson 1910
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Kenneth strolled about the town for awhile before returning to the tavern to shave, change his boots, and "smarten" himself up a bit in preparation for the ceremonious call he had dreaded to make.
Viola Gwyn George Barr McCutcheon 1897
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A few weeks ago, President Obama announced more than $3 billion in stimulus grants to improve and "smarten" the national grid pushing the concept of a modernized electricity network into the limelight.
unknown title 2009
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A few weeks ago, President Obama announced more than $3 billion in stimulus grants to improve and "smarten" the national grid pushing the concept of a modernized electricity network into the limelight.
unknown title 2009
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If the GOP dosen't smarten up, they are doomed to become an afterthought.
RNC resolution won't 'handcuff' Steele, co-sponsor says 2009
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Yes | No | Report from steve182 wrote 49 weeks 1 day ago unfortunately not all hunters are wise with their votes. smarten 'up
Obama Administration Looks To Reinstate Assault-Weapons Ban 2009
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Yes | No | Report from steve182 wrote 49 weeks 1 day ago unfortunately not all hunters are wise with their votes. smarten 'up
Obama Administration Looks To Reinstate Assault-Weapons Ban 2009
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Didn't take long for people to smarten up – just too bad they didn't BEFORE the elections!
Jimmydiamond commented on the word smarten
to up the pace",move it..."
July 9, 2013