double up

present singular third person doubles up · participle present doubling up · participle past doubled up · past doubled up

1. transitiveTo double the quantity, amount or duration of something.

   I'm going to double up my enlistment.

2. broadlyintransitivegamblingTo double one's number of chips, especially in poker by winning an all-in pot.
3. intransitiveTo bend, bend over; to fold; to stoop.

   Near-synonym: double over

   2 more examples

   'It is well, then, that we should be frank,' said the other. 'We both think more than we have said; let us make a clean breast. This masked figure that you saw, did you recognise it?' / 'Well, sir, it went so quick, and the creature was so doubled up, that I could hardly swear to that,' was the answer. 'But if you mean, was it Mr. Hyde?—why, yes, I think it was![…]'

   1886 January 5, Robert Louis Stevenson, “The Last Night”, in Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, page 78

   If I could jump high enough out of the water to wedge my doubled-up fist in that crack I could hang by it. If I opened my hand I'd slide right back in the water, but if I could keep my fist closed […]

   1970, Louis L'Amour, Galloway, new edition, Bantam Books, published 1974, →ISBN, page 43

   Synonyms: double over

4. transitiveTo cause (someone) to bend over; to beat up (someone).

   I doubled him up with a swift punch to the stomach.

5. intransitiveTo have a secondary use.

   This unfolding sofa doubles up as a bed.

   2 more examples

   A little fearfully now, Pollyanna felt her way to these bags, selected a nice fat soft one (it contained Miss Polly's sealskin coat) for a bed; and a thinner one to be doubled up for a pillow, and still another (which was so thin it seemed almost empty) for a covering.

   1913, Eleanor H. Porter, chapter 7, in Pollyanna, L.C. Page, →OCLC

   Fikayo Tomori, the Chelsea defender, sang “championes, championes” with his winners’ medal swaying from side to side. For Joshua Onomah and Ainsley Maitland-Niles, England banners doubled up as celebratory bandanas.

   2017 June 11, Ben Fisher, “England seal Under-20 World Cup glory as Dominic Calvert-Lewin strikes”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 30 Aug 2025

   Synonyms: double

6. transitiveball gamesTo get the second out in a double play, typically referring to getting an out by beating a runner back to a base (often by throwing) after a fly ball has been caught

   Jones snared the liner and then stepped on the bag to double up the runner.

7. intransitiveTo employ double the usual resources for a particular purpose; to work in pairs.

   Tactically smart, Leeds' work-rate was also admirable, their players often doubling up on Everton's main threats like Marouane Fellaini, while Victor Anichibe found he had unwelcome, unstinting company throughout.

   2012 September 23, Ben Smith, “Leeds United 2-1 Everton”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 23 Jan 2025

8. intransitiveslangTo marry or live with someone; to share a living space.