boost
/buːst
/verb [with object]
1Help or encourage (something) to increase or improve: a range of measures to boost tourism...
- These will primarily be aimed at the old, young families and savers - but there will also be some measures to boost productivity and encourage entrepreneurship.
- Political freedom, during the 1950s and 1960s, was about increased production, boosting agriculture and stimulating industry.
- Instead he preferred state-sponsored measures that would boost trade and thereby encourage employers to employ.
Synonyms
improve, raise, uplift, increase, augment, magnify, swell, amplify, enhance, encourage, heighten, help, promote, foster, nurture, arouse, stimulate, invigorate, revitalize, inspire, perk up;
support, bolster, buttress, shore up
informal buck up, jack up, give a shot in the arm to
increase, expand, raise, elevate, escalate, augment, add to, improve, strengthen, amplify, enlarge, inflate, push up, promote, advance, develop, further, foster, stimulate;
facilitate, help, assist, aid, support, back, shore up
informal jack up, hike, hike up, beef up, crank up, bump up, step up
1.1Amplify (an electrical signal): the specially designed circuit boosts signal strength...
- Therefore, one or more optical regenerators is spliced along the cable to boost the degraded light signals.
- Still, this loss is tolerable, because the amplifier boosts the signal level enough to get it to the donor site.
- As existing analogue transmitters are switched off region by region, the strength of the digital signal will be boosted.
2North American Push from below: Andy boosted him up high enough to reach the keys...
- He then put the left feet and boosted himself from the wall towards Kashiro.
- He pushed Hannah onto the ground then boosted himself out of the water.
Synonyms
lift, raise, hoist, push, thrust, shove, heave, elevate;
help, aid, assist
informal hoick, give someone a leg up
rare upheave
3North American informal Steal (something): he’d had his wallet boosted in a bar...
- Our tablemate Bob, not on our tour, had his wallet boosted by a group including an amputee.
- I got extremely paranoid that some deft pickpocket had my number and it was only a matter of time before my wallet was boosted.
- I have noticed a rise in the arrests of individuals who are boosting wallets from purses in unattended shopping carts at grocery stores.
noun
1A source of help or encouragement leading to increase or improvement: the cut in interest rates will give a further boost to the economy...
- It will be a great boost for the local economy and hopefully kick-start a wider regeneration of the area.
- Council officials believe the draw of over 2,000, mainly young adults into the area will provide a major boost for the local economy.
- The news is also a timely boost for the local economy.
Synonyms
uplift, lift, spur, encouragement, help, inspiration, stimulus, pick-me-up, fillip;
support, bolster
informal shot in the arm
1.1An increase or improvement: a boost in exports...
- In Western Australia a team of researchers has discovered that sheep will get an increased boost of vitamin E if they're grazed on saltbush.
- A strong continental trade for good weanlings has seen a sharp rise in live exports and a boost in return to producers of quality stock.
- With the property boom, furniture is experiencing a parallel boost, with increased demand for antique and contemporary pieces.
Synonyms
increase, expansion, upturn, upsurge, upswing, rise, elevation, escalation, augmentation, improvement, development, advance, growth, boom, spurt
informal hike, step up, jack up
2North American A push from below.This time, Ian gave me a boost up, and I was climbing....
- She gave me a boost up so I could crawl into it, being the smallest one of us.
- You gave me a boost over the high fences.
Synonyms
lift up, hoist up, push, thrust, shove, heave
informal a leg up, a hoick up
Origin
Early 19th century (originally US, in sense 2 of the verb): of unknown origin.