firm up

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

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

1. (transitive, idiomatic) To make (tentative plans) more definite.

   Can we firm up plans for the barbecue Sunday?

   • 1977-1980, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure

     Just got a call from Falces office firming up my hospital date.

   • 2023 September 6, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Leaderless and rudderless”, in RAIL, number 991, page 3:

     Sometime soon (if it isn't happening already), Labour leader Sir Kier Starmer and his team will be firming up plans for what they want to do in the crucial first 100 days of a new government.

2. (intransitive, idiomatic, of tentative plans) 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, of muscles) 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.

Translations

To make tentative plans more definite

• French: préciser (fr)

To make muscles more toned

• French: affermir (fr)

To become firmer in consistency

• Irish: cruaigh