build up: enlarge, develop, or increase by degrees or in stages "build up your savings"
build up, work up, build, progress: form or accumulate steadily "Resistance to the manager's plan built up quickly", "Pressure is building up at the Indian-Pakistani border"
arm, build up, fortify, gird: prepare oneself for a military confrontation "The U.S. is girding for a conflict in the Middle East", "troops are building up on the Iraqi border"
build up, work up, build, ramp up: bolster or strengthen "We worked up courage", "build up confidence", "ramp up security in the airports"
build up, develop: change the use of and make available or usable "develop land", "The country developed its natural resources", "The remote areas of the country were gradually built up"
