muster up
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
Verb: 1. To gather or summon (something, especially an inner quality like courage or strength): To deliberately bring together or call upon a particular feeling, quality, or resource from within oneself, typically to face a difficult situation.
Usage and Examples
The verb "muster up" is used when someone needs to consciously collect or summon an internal resource, such as courage, energy, or willpower.
- Basic Usage:
- He had to muster up all his courage to ask her on a date.
- I can't muster up any enthusiasm for this project.
- She finally mustered up the energy to clean the house.
Advanced Usage
- "to muster up support": To gather or rally backing or approval from others.
- The candidate worked hard to muster up support for her campaign.
Variants and Related Words
- Muster (verb): The base form, meaning to assemble or gather, especially troops or people. It can also be used similarly to "muster up" for inner qualities.
- The general mustered his forces.
- She mustered a smile despite the bad news.
Synonyms
- Summon: To call upon (a quality or feeling) from within.
- Gather: To bring together.
- Rally: To muster or cause to recover strength (e.g., ).
- Conjure up: To bring to mind or summon as if by magic.
Related Phrasal Verbs
- Drum up: To gather or obtain (support, business, etc.) through effort.
- We need to drum up more interest in the event. (This is more external and active than "muster up," which is more internal.)
Related Idioms
- To muster (up) the courage/nerve/strength: A common collocation emphasizing the effort to summon a specific inner resource.
- It took him weeks to muster the nerve to confront his boss.
Verb
- gather or bring together
- muster the courage to do something
- she rallied her intellect
- Summon all your courage