level up

verb

leveled up or levelled up; leveling up or levelling up; levels up

transitive + intransitive

: to advance or improve (oneself, someone else, or something) in or as if in a game

Collect cards and magic potions, then level up your favourite dragons to increase their abilities.

—Animation Xpress

Staying competitive comes down to many factors, but one that's often overlooked, in my opinion, is the ongoing need to level up your marketing team.

—Sujan Patel

That [Kevin] Reilly has leveled up the brands of both networks is clear in their programming selections.

—Broadcasting and Cable

We provide nurses with the tools they need to level up their careers and their profession …

—News & Record (Greensboro, North Carolina)

Leveling up and finding new weapons, armor, or items give you plenty of incentive to keep slashing and button mashing away.

—Dan Hsu

Companies coax helpers to participate by offering points for useful answers, connecting total points to specific achievement levels, and encouraging users to level up, for even greater prestige.

—Paul McFedries

Examples of level up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The bill also levels up some program implementation with advances in technology, from using GPS and satellite mapping to promote precision farming to authorizing virtual fence technology in some grazing practices. —Andrew McKean, Outdoor Life, 30 Apr. 2026

And there’s no denying Soho House Tokyo’s overall inviting aesthetics are set to level up the city’s private club game. —Terry Ward, Robb Report, 30 Apr. 2026

The aggressive strike prices on the options signal that Meta sees AI as a massive opportunity and that the market for talent in AI has intensified to the point Meta needed to level up its compensation plan. —Amanda Gerut, Fortune, 29 Apr. 2026

To level up your decor game and stop missing out on the good stuff, there are a few insider tricks to know. —Elizabeth Fogarty, Better Homes & Gardens, 29 Apr. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

2003, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for level up

• buttercup
• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup