gin up

present singular third person gins up · participle present ginning up · participle past ginned up · past ginned up

1. CanadaUSinformaltransitiveTo generate, devise, or create.

   Near-synonym: spin up

   4 more examples

   So as the six-year conceptual design phase ends next month, and the design teams face extinction, the partners […] have begun frantic efforts to keep ITER alive, ginning up concepts for an "ITER light" that promise to cut costs in half while providing most of the features of the full-fat version.

   1998, Science & Government Report, volume 28, page 10

   There will be pundits and politicians and special interest lobbyists publicly warning of a tyrannical all-out assault on liberty, not because that’s true but because they want to gin up fear or higher ratings or revenue for themselves.

   2013 January 16, Barack Obama, The Most Vulnerable Among Us

   Her hope was that turning it into an NFT would be a bit of performance art and that the process would gin up conversation about the article but also about new ways for creators to make money and control the ownership of their work.

   2021 March 24, Charlie Warzel, “What Are You Paying for When You Buy a GIF for $25,000?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

   Then I'll send out some tweets to help gin up the heat.

   2023 April 18, “CALLOUS MAN: A Parody of Piano Man by Don Caron and David Cohen”performed by Parody Project

   Synonyms: bring forth, cause, contrive, create, ferment, forge, develop, engender

2. informalTo set up a snare.
3. informalTo exaggerate.

   Synonyms: hyperbolize, overstate

4. informalTo stir up, stimulate, enliven, incite.

   Synonyms: animate, bring about, abet, actuate, goose, fuel, light a fire under, send

present singular third person gins up · participle present ginning up · participle past ginned up · past ginned up

1. datedinformaltransitiveTo make drunk, especially on gin.

   Harrison was pretty well ginned-up when his guests arrived and he had proffered drinks freely and hospitably ever since.

   1925, J. Allan Dunn, The Three Traders

   1 more example

   "You go slow on the gin, auntie," said Dr Grimsby. "If you hadn't been ginned up you wouldn't have fallen down those stairs."

   1950, Norman Lindsay, Dust or Polish?, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 35