wrap up

present singular third person wraps up · participle present wrapping up · participle past wrapped up · past wrapped up

1. intransitivetransitiveTo cover or enclose (something) by folding and securing a covering entirely around it.

   He wrapped up the parcel with brown paper.

   2 more examples

   Let me wrap you up a piece of this pie to take home with you.

   2008, Connie Leonard Geron, Sadie's Freedom

   After all the fish were wrapped up, into the office we went to make the entry into the record book.

   2020, Donald R. Belik, Heading North

2. idiomaticintransitivetransitiveTo conclude or finish completely.

   Let me wrap up this project before I begin a new one.

   5 more examples

   I've just been handed a note about your — the need for you to leave, and I'll wrap it up in another couple of minutes here.

   1997, United States. Congress. Senate. Select Committee on Intelligence, DCI Wrap-up, page 31

   Kevin Doyle cut inside and drove a third, Matt Jarvis hammered in a fourth and David Jones lashed in deep into injury time to wrap it up.

   2011 January 18, “Wolverhampton 5 - 0 Doncaster”, in BBC

   And in reality, that show is a perfect example of a show that knew the end was coming, but still couldn't wrap it up in a meaningful way.

   2015, James O'Ehley, Erin Willard, The Take2 Guide to Lost

   After the event has wrapped up, thank everyone for attending and let them know about any future events.

   2019, Zack Miller, Anomaly: How to Finally Stand Out From the Crowd

   “The DNA evidence wrapped everything up for us,” Ezra continued.

   2021, Steven J. Kolbe, How Everything Turns Away

   Synonyms: finish off, finish up

3. idiomaticintransitivetransitiveTo summarize or recapitulate.

   The newscaster wrapped up the day's events.

   3 more examples

   Conclusion: Story is clearly wrapped up using general concluding statements such as "and they were together again, happy as can be."

   2012, Rhea Paul, Courtenay Norbury, Language Disorders from Infancy Through Adolescence, page 445

   If I were to wrap this up in a single bit of advice, it would be this: Don't end each day without doing five things to further your business.

   2013, Cory Boatright, Rodney Miller, Real Estate Recession Riches

   Here are final points to wrap up what you've read in this chapter:

   2015, Erica Sadun, The Gourmet iOS Developer's Cookbook

4. idiomaticintransitivetransitiveTo put on abundant clothing as protection from the cold; to bundle up.

   It's a cold, snowy day and I'm going to wrap up thoroughly before I go sledding.

   3 more examples

   After the bath wrap up well, preferably in woolen garments, until the perspiration ceases.

   1917, Rasmus Larssen Alsaker, Curing Catarrh, Coughs and Colds, page 41

   However well you wrap up, you get cold.

   2012, Ankaret Wells, Firebrand

   Every year around the world people pull on their woolly jumpers, wrap up in their thickest coats, dig out their heavy snow boots and get ready for their favourite frosty festivals.

   2021, Claire Grace, A Year Full of Celebrations and Festivals, page 100

   Synonyms: muffle up

5. figurativelyidiomaticintransitivetransitiveTo cocoon; to surround protectively.

   He held out his arms, and I went to him and let him wrap me up tight.

   2016, Jane Jensen, In the Land of Milk and Honey, page 277

   3 more examples

   It is time once again to just let it be; let love wrap you up and take care of you.

   1989, Deanna Edwards ·, Grieving: The Pain and the Promise, page 141

   Let's just say in the past my family's tried to wrap me up in cotton wool, and that drives me crazy.

   2015, Kate Hardy, Falling for Mr. December, page 99

   I wanted my possessions to cocoon me, wrap me up, and keep me safe from a world that was trying to rip it all away.

   2016, Christina McDowell, After Perfect: A Daughter’s Memoir, page 39

6. figurativelyidiomatictransitiveTo tie up; to make too busy to respond.

   And if you haven't seen these things the technicians can absolutely wrap you up in details, and you never find your way out.

   2008, William D. Cohan, The Last Tycoons: The Secret History of Lazard Frères & Co.

   2 more examples

   With the seconds slipping away and the gap just one point, France went through an 18-phase attack that made little ground but resulted in an attacking scrum on the New Zealand 10m line, only for the hosts to steal the ball back when Aurelien Rougerie was wrapped up.

   2011 October 23, Tom Fordyce, “2011 Rugby World Cup final: New Zealand 8-7 France”, in BBC Sport

   This left him with the real problem, if he brought it to their attention now they may well wrap him up in red tape while they requested advice from the high command on how to proceed.

   2017, David Howey, Captain Styal: The Serenity War, page 17

7. transitiveTo combine, incorporate or encapsulate into one thing.

   We can, however, wrap them all up in one word—salvation.

   2012, Sam Owens, Digging a Little Deeper in the Psalms, page 221

   4 more examples

   With all this wrapped up into one compact machine, it's easy to see why the versatile veteran has become a Champion of the Underground!

   1970, Construction Methods and Equipment - Volume 52, Issues 1-6

   He wrapped up into Himself those who would voluntarily acclaim Him their Lord.

   2004, Harold Morton, Too Hot to Handle, page 159

   Now, you can take every religion in the world and you can wrap them all up in one big hairy package, and then you can take 'em and ...

   2018, James Leo Herlihy, All Fall Down

   Tom has the smooth moves of A.I.’s Gigolo Joe and some of the quizzical cluelessness of Star Trek’s Data, all wrapped up in the classical good looks of, well, Matthew Crawley.

   2021 September 16, A. A. Dowd, “Dan Stevens as a dashing robot lover? That computes”, in AV Club

8. figurativelytransitiveTo hide or cover up.

   So, we wrap up our secrets and lock them away before swallowing the key, hoping no one finds them.

   2021, Casey Beros, The 'Bad' Girl's Guide to Better

   3 more examples

   In briefe, all bookes, divinitie except, Are nought but tales of the divels lawes, Poyson wrapt up in sugred words, Mans pride, damnations props, the worlds abuse.

   1592, Summer's Last Will and Testament

   The dishonest tradesman wraps up the thousand sins of his daily avaricious life, in the bland smile, the cringing bow, and the false statement which he makes to his customers.

   1863, David Thomas, The Homilist; or, The pulpit for the people

   This he unquestionably did not do, and yet we are asked to give a hearing to an American lawyer, who, nearly three centuries after Bacon's death, chooses first to imagine that Bacon wrote the immortal plays, and then to assure us that, instead of placing the fact upon record, as any man of common-sense would be sure to place it, he wrapt up his secret in a cryptogram, of which he did not even leave the key — a cryptogram distributed in a most mystical and bewildering way through the bad printing of the first folio, and which it was left for Mr. Donnelly's laborious and perverted ingenuity to discover!

   1888, Theodore Martin, Shakespeare Or Bacon?, page 60

9. intransitivetransitiveTo curl into a more compact form.

   Mother Elizabeth, her long hair wrapped up into a crowning bundle on her head, glanced up at them sharply from her seat before the restless group.

   2014, Mandy Hager, Into the Wilderness

   2 more examples

   Whereas most people open their front doors to find a nicely wrapped newspaper in the morning, Felix found a sleeping armadillo wrapped up into a protective ball.

   2013, Chuck Pheterson, Blank Slate

   These guys all backed off and we were just getting settled back in when suddenly I was getting my arms wrapped up behind me, like I was being arrested.

   2021, John Hopkins, Leathered: A life taken to extremes... on and off the bike