build up (third-person singular simple present builds up, present participle building up, simple past and past participle built up)

1. To erect; to construct.
2. To close up by building.

   to build up a door

3. (intransitive, transitive, idiomatic) To accumulate, to pile up, to increase in stages.

   Ever since the secretary left, the letters in my inbox have started to build up.

4. (transitive, idiomatic) To strengthen.

   They had to build up their fortress to protect against attack.

   • 1925 July – 1926 May, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “(please specify the chapter number)”, in The Land of Mist (eBook no. 0601351h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, published April 2019:

     "It took it out of me, though. I'm a rag this morning." "They work you too hard, dear. I'll take you to Margate and build you up." "Well, maybe at Easter we could do a week."

5. (card games) In solitaire card games, to place a card over another card of lower value. (e.g., place 5♦ over 4♣)

• (construct) assemble, put together; see also Thesaurus:build
• (close up) close, close off, cover, shut, shut off
• (accumulate) amass, heap up; see also Thesaurus:pile up
• (strengthen) fortify, reinforce; see also Thesaurus:strengthen

• (antonym(s) of “card games”): build down

• French: s'accumuler, s'entasser, s'empiler
• German: sich ansammeln, sich türmen
• Italian: accumulare
• Russian: накапливаться

• French: renforcer
• German: aufbauen
• Italian: rinforzare
• Russian: усилить

1. Misspelling of buildup