tune up

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tune up

verb tunes up · tuning up · tuned up

transitive To make adjustments (to an engine or bicycle drivetrain) in order to improve its performance.
Similar: soup up
intransitive To make preparations for vigorous exercise; to warm up.
intransitive To begin to sing or play music.
intransitive To tune one's instrument in preparation for performance. By this time the theatre had practically filled and the orchestra was tuning up for the overture.
US, idiomatic, transitive To beat up (someone). “We finally stopped roustin' him and decided to tune him up instead, every chance we got.” “Tune him up?” “Yeah, that's an expression for beatin' the living dog shit outta somebody.”

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verb adjust engine

Español	trucar, mejorar

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MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX

@misc{tune_up_2026,
  title = {tune up},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/tune%20up},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}