soup up

English

Alternative forms

• soup-up, supe up

Verb

soup up (third-person singular simple present soups up, present participle souping up, simple past and past participle souped up)

1. (informal, transitive) To modify the engine of (a motor vehicle) to give a higher performance than the specifications.
   • 2009 October 19, Paul Rees, “Flying backs become walking wounded as blitz defence has its impact”, in The Guardian:

     Imagine souping up a Mini with a Cosworth engine: the car would fly.

2. (by extension) To embellish with many additions.
   • 1948, Harley L. Lutz, "Taxes and Jobs," Institute of Business and Economic Problems: A Series of Lectures, page 25:

     They are dickering over a tax cut small enough, in a bill "souped" up with gadgets, to escape or override a veto.

Synonyms

• tune up

Derived terms

• souped-up

Translations

modify higher performance than the specifications

• Finnish: virittää (fi)
• French: débrider (fr)
• German: aufmotzen (de), frisieren (de), tunen (de)
• Russian: форси́ровать дви́гатель (forsírovatʹ dvígatelʹ)
• Spanish: trucar (es), retocar (es)