square up

phrasal verb

squared up; squaring up; squares up

: to turn so that one is facing something or someone directly

She squared up (with/to the basket) for a three-point shot.

They squared up for a fight.

Examples of square up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Hundreds of others squared up to police with shields at the town's cenotaph, throwing bricks, cans and pots at officers. —

Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 5 Aug. 2024 Hundreds of others squared up to police with shields at the town’s cenotaph, throwing bricks, cans, and pots at officers. —

Pan Pylas, The Christian Science Monitor, 4 Aug. 2024 Last year’s demonstrations over a minimum wage that could square up with runaway inflation resulted in brutal standoffs with security forces that ended with the deaths of four garment workers and the arrests of hundreds more. —

Jasmin Malik Chua, Sourcing Journal, 3 Sep. 2019 Al Bello / Getty Images PARIS — Two American women squared up for a sword fight in the palace at dusk. —

NBC News, 29 July 2024 See all Example Sentences for square up

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'square up.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.