How to Use square up in a Sentence

square up

phrasal verb
Definition of square upnext
  • Hold a workpiece to the bench, and slide a square up to the cut mark.
    — Roy Berendsohn, Popular Mechanics, 7 June 2023
  • Carter squared up a heater that was thrown on the inside corner.
    — Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 5 May 2024
  • In a 1-and-1 count against Pirates reliever Ben Heller, Betts squared up a sinker over the heart of the zone.
    — Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 7 June 2024
  • The crew then heads to Cape Citadel to square up against their arch-nemesis Magneto.
    — Demetrius Simms, Robb Report, 11 Aug. 2023
  • One of the women took off her T-shirt, and the two squared up before one threw the first punch, the surveillance footage shows.
    — Elizabeth Keogh, New York Daily News, 12 June 2024
  • If the tom is squared up, facing you directly, aim just an inch or two above his beard.
    — Alex Robinson, Outdoor Life, 21 Apr. 2023
  • In both games, your four heroes square up against up to four enemies.
    — Aaron Zimmerman, Ars Technica, 8 May 2023
  • After his first few weeks in the big leagues, McLain started squaring up line drives and home runs more often.
    — Charlie Goldsmith, The Enquirer, 22 July 2023
  • Otherwise, reunions are a chance to square up and meet others from a shared point of origin.
    — Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 17 May 2023
  • Smith is squaring up to this Rocky Mountain-sized moment and giving it her best shot.
    — Rose Minutaglio, ELLE, 17 July 2023
  • An enraged Leonardo went back to Lerner to square up the bill, and the family never shopped there again.
    — Gustavo Arellano, Los Angeles Times, 15 May 2023
  • Ramírez popped up and pointed a finger in Anderson’s face before the two squared up.
    — Paul Hoynes, cleveland, 5 Aug. 2023
  • Rowdy Tellez came off the bench and followed suit, squaring up a two-run single to center to increase the cushion to 5-2.
    — Todd Rosiak, Journal Sentinel, 19 Apr. 2023
  • Clearly annoyed by Sané’s efforts to grab the ball, Bjelica then pushed the forward in the face as the pair squared up to each other on the sideline.
    — Ben Church, CNN, 29 Jan. 2024
  • On one first-quarter 3-pointer Martin had time to square up, look down to set his feet, and fire away with no resistance.
    — Adam Himmelsbach, BostonGlobe.com, 28 May 2023
  • Gifted a down-the-middle cutter that was begging to be squared up, Outman delivered a no-doubt grand slam to give the Dodgers a 6-2 win.
    — Houston Mitchell, Los Angeles Times, 21 Apr. 2023
  • The shouting man seems delighted with the challenge, squaring up.
    — Michael Wilson, New York Times, 17 Mar. 2024
  • After Tkachuk tried to snatch Ullmark’s stick, Boston’s goalie chucked both gloves and attempted to square up.
    — Conor Ryan, BostonGlobe.com, 23 Apr. 2023
  • Assis squared up against another top player in the world, 12-year-old Xeve Perez (Georgia).
    — Gary Curreri, Sun Sentinel, 28 Apr. 2023
  • In the clip, Benito squares up against his own clone, trading insults in both English and Spanish.
    — Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 20 Oct. 2023
  • Hudson ran after Okoronkwo, who stopped and squared up before Hudson clocked him in the helmet.
    — Mary Kay Cabot, cleveland, 30 July 2023
  • Serve these squares up on Easter Sunday to save yourself time and effort stacking and frosting a layer cake.
    — Southern Living Editors, Southern Living, 2 Feb. 2024
  • Hudson ran after him, and Okoronkwo squared up, only to be punched in the helmet by the backup offensive tackle.
    — cleveland, 30 July 2023
  • Burnie, wearing oversized boxing gloves, squared up with McGregor at midcourt during a timeout in the third quarter.
    — oregonlive, 11 June 2023
  • The projector also automatically adjusts the keystone, which squares up the sides of the image if the projector is pointing slightly up or down.
    — Jim Rossman, Dallas News, 7 May 2023
  • Arkansas had trouble squaring up the gangly lefty Zach Erdman, who wriggled out of jams in the second and fourth innings by allowing just one run despite having five runners on base.
    — Tom Murphy, arkansasonline.com, 17 Apr. 2024
  • This conditional release policy requires its patients to square up their bills in full once treatment is completed.
    — Marc Weingarten, Los Angeles Times, 20 Apr. 2023
  • His inability to trigger his feet quickly and make fluid redirections in space show up in run blocking and pass protection, but his ability to square up and hold his own against a true nose tackle over the top of him is a valuable talent.
    — Creg Stephenson | Cstephenson@al.com, al, 29 Apr. 2023
  • Mercury is flying through your 5th House of Joy, so you're allowed to focus on finding ways to enjoy yourself as much as possible, but Mercury is also squaring up against Neptune in your income sector, which could create chaos with your finances.
    — Tarot Astrologers, Chicago Tribune, 25 June 2023
  • Before any of that becomes a possibility, though, TikTok and the Biden administration will be squaring up in court, where arguments over balancing free speech with national security could take years to finally resolve.
    — Bobby Allyn, NPR, 22 Apr. 2024

Some of 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.

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