Meaning & use
firing up
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“firing up” is a form of “fire up”.
Meanings
verbphrasal verbinformal
Starting a machine or device so it begins working.
Grammar: The object can come in the middle or after up: firing up the engine or firing the engine up.
Patterns
- fire something up
He is firing up the grill for the barbecue.
She was firing up her laptop when the power went out.
The pilot is firing up the engines now.
verbphrasal verbinformalfigurative
Making someone excited, angry or energetic, especially before an event or effort.
Grammar: A person object can go in the middle: firing the crowd up.
Patterns
- fire someone up
- fire up a crowd
The coach is firing up the team before the final.
Her speech was firing up the whole room.
Pop music always fires me up on a morning run.
verbphrasal verbinformal
Becoming excited or angry, or starting to feel energy about something.
Grammar: Intransitive use: the crowd was firing up by halftime.
Patterns
- fire up about something
The debate was firing up by the second question.
He was firing up about the unfair rule.
Common combinations
- firing up the grill
- Dad is firing up the grill in the yard.
- firing up the crowd
- The band is firing up the crowd with a fast song.
- firing up the engine
- She is firing up the engine in the cold.
- firing up the computer
- I'm firing up the computer to check my emails.
- firing up supporters
- The candidate is firing up supporters.
Synonyms and how they differ
- starting up
- is neutral and mostly for machines, while firing up adds energy.
- rousing
- is more formal and used for people, not for machines.
- energizing
- is calmer and more positive, whereas firing up can include anger.
- igniting
- means starting a fire or sudden feeling and is more dramatic.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: firing up or firing?
firing up vs firing
On its own firing can mean dismissing someone from a job; firing up never means that.
Practice
The coach spent ten minutes ___ the players before the match.
Choose one answer.
Firing up means getting people excited and ready. Firing off is for sending messages or shots, and cooling down is the opposite.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “firing up”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.