Meaning & use
gee up
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Meanings
verbtransitiveBritishinformal
To urge a horse to go faster or start moving, usually by shouting 'gee up'.
Grammar: Takes an object: gee up the horse. Often used as a command: Gee up!
Patterns
- gee up a horse
- gee up!
The rider shouted 'gee up' to make the horse gallop.
He geed up the horse with a loud cry.
verbtransitiveBritishinformal
To encourage someone to work harder or move faster.
Grammar: Takes an object: gee up the team. Often used in the passive: be geed up.
Patterns
- gee someone up
- gee up the team
The coach tried to gee up the players before the match.
We need to gee up the staff to finish on time.
Word forms
| third person singular | gees up |
|---|---|
| past tense | geed up |
| past participle | geed up |
| -ing form | geeing up |
Common combinations
- gee up the horse
- She geed up the horse to jump the fence.
- gee up the team
- The captain geed up the team at halftime.
- gee someone up
- He tried to gee her up with a pep talk.
Synonyms and how they differ
- urge
- More formal and general; gee up is informal and often used with animals or teams.
- encourage
- A general word for giving support; gee up adds a sense of pushing someone to act faster.
Opposites
Commonly confused: gee up or gee?
gee up vs gee
A command to a horse to turn right; gee up means go faster or start moving.
Practice
In which situation would you most likely hear 'gee up'?
Choose one answer.
'Gee up' is a command used to urge a horse to move faster. It can also mean to encourage someone, but the horse context is the most typical.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “gee up”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.