chirk up

English

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “Blend of cheer up and perk up?”)

Verb

chirk up (third-person singular simple present chirks up, present participle chirking up, simple past and past participle chirked up)

1. (idiomatic, intransitive) To become more cheerful, perk up.
   • 2006, Anna Cypra Oliver, Assembling My Father: A Daughter's Detective Story, page 10:

     She was terrified but in control. n. How, on the trip around the country my parents took the year after my birth, their mood sank so low that even my brother sensed it. "Chirk up, guys," he said. "Chirk up." They laughed at that.