How to Use rough up in a Sentence

rough up

phrasal verb
Definition of rough upnext
  • Make the hole square instead of round, and rough up the edges.
    — Nan Sterman, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Oct. 2023
  • The actor's ears weren't his only body parts roughed up during filming.
    — Jessica Wang, EW.com, 7 Dec. 2023
  • The shotcrete interior looks smooth and water-carved from afar, but is rough up close, the knobbly texture of tree bark.
    — Nathaniel Scharping, Discover Magazine, 4 Apr. 2024
  • Mayfield sustained bruised ribs when he was roughed up by safety Tyrann Mathieu late in the fourth quarter.
    — Rick Stroud, Orlando Sentinel, 1 Jan. 2024
  • Sometimes settlers show up and rough up some people, beat them, threaten them.
    — Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 1 Nov. 2023
  • The waves weren't precise or uniform in shape, but rather looked as though they'd been styled with a three-barrel iron, then roughed up and tousled for an undone finish.
    — Kara Nesvig, Allure, 25 Jan. 2024
  • He was roughed up for five runs in one inning at Northeastern May 7, and nine runs in 2 2/3 innings against Xavier earlier.
    — Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 4 June 2024
  • The design is crafted from a textured leather that is weather- and scratch-resistant, so consistent use won’t rough up your bag.
    — Megan Schaltegger, Travel + Leisure, 21 Nov. 2023
  • He got roughed up by the Rangers in his major league debut May 3 and later was sent down to the minors twice before rejoining the Diamondbacks.
    — Brooks Warren, The Courier-Journal, 8 Jan. 2024
  • He’s bullied and roughed up at school, then intentionally gives himself a bloody head injury.
    — Common Sense Media, Washington Post, 8 Dec. 2023
  • In a physical game, Arsenal's players were shoved and roughed up, while riling the home fans with streetwise tactics that might have pushed the boundaries of gamesmanship.
    — Steve Douglas, ajc, 7 May 2023
  • The Indiana transfer who came back from two knee surgeries and two shoulder injuries was roughed up by the Wolverines, limping at times, stepped on another time.
    — Ralph D. Russo, USA TODAY, 9 Jan. 2024
  • Atlanta took the opener, 9-3, after Nick Pivetta got roughed up, allowing seven runs on seven hits in four innings.
    — Andrew Mahoney, BostonGlobe.com, 10 May 2023
  • Other than being roughed up for six runs in one inning of work against Stanford in the Pac-12 tournament, he’s allowed seven earned runs over 19 innings during three of his last four appearances.
    — oregonlive, 8 June 2023
  • Inside, if a few protesters interrupted a rally, they would often be roughed up by the audience members around them, as thousands cheered every punch and shove.
    — Benjamin Wallace-Wells, The New Yorker, 25 Sep. 2023
  • In 2022, deputies texted about roughing up a man arrested on suspicion of domestic violence.
    — Jerry Mitchell, New York Times, 29 May 2024
  • Its durable leather upper can be polished into an elegant shine or roughed up to look a little more relaxed, giving them an entirely different look for the boardroom or for casual wear.
    — Olivia Muenter, Peoplemag, 29 Feb. 2024
  • Protesting mothers being roughed up by police officers.
    — James Sullivan, BostonGlobe.com, 13 Sep. 2023
  • The police roughed up many of the protesters, so King underlined the need for the federal government to create a special civil rights force to prevent police brutality against protestors (in New York as well as Birmingham).
    — TIME, 9 May 2024
  • But with animation, Hamm can separate his voice from his famously handsome face, even roughing up his signature baritone to sound significantly less suave.
    — Alison Herman, Variety, 7 Jan. 2024
  • Roaming the surrounding hillsides with several thousand sheep, and sometimes roughing up Palestinian herders who got in their way, a handful of committed Israeli herders quickly established a civilian presence across a much larger area.
    — Gabby Sobelman, New York Times, 3 Oct. 2023
  • During Vucic’s inauguration ceremony, hooligans, including a member of the Janissaries, helped to rough up and remove protesters.
    — Robert F. Worth, New York Times, 3 May 2023

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

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