prop up

English · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

prop up

/ˌpɹɒp ˈʌp/ UK
/ˌpɹɑp ˈʌp/ US
/ˌpɹɔp ˈap/ Australia
[ˌpɹɔ‿ˈpap] Australia

verb props up · propping up · propped up

transitive To support with, or as if with, a prop. A $465 million federal loan in 2010 helped prop up Tesla at a crucial juncture, and its customers have benefitted from hefty tax incentives.
Similar: shore up
idiomatic, transitive To be at the bottom of (a league). Under Moyes, United have fewer home points (21) than Norwich City and Hull City, with their count of 18 goals the same as Fulham and Cardiff City, who prop up the table.

Translations

Every language

verb to support with a prop

Español	apuntalar, apear
Français	accoter, appuyer, étayer
Русский	подпира́ть podpirátʹ, подпере́ть podperétʹ

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"prop up." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/prop%20up. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

prop up. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/prop%20up

Chicago

"prop up." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/prop%20up.

BibTeX

@misc{prop_up_2026,
  title = {prop up},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/prop%20up},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}