Work up to meaning
Work up to is a phrasal verb that means to build up your readiness for a demanding action or experience over time.
- Past simple
- worked up to
- Past participle
- worked up to
- -ing form
- working up to
What work up to means
B2
To build up your readiness for a demanding action or experience over time
She worked herself up to making the phone call.
Similar phrasal verbs
With work: work out, work against/for someone, work at, work off, work on, work over, work through, work up.
With up: wake up, pick up, grow up, line up, make up, set up, put up, go up, bring up, mess up.
Common questions
What does work up to mean?
To build up your readiness for a demanding action or experience over time.
What is the past tense of work up to?
Worked up to, which is also its past participle.
Meanings and examples are written by Retite. The meanings follow Open English WordNet (CC BY 4.0). Levels are based on the CEFR-J Wordlist and set by Retite.
