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

Then, just two seconds later, Matthew’s brother, Brady, squared up with Sam Bennett, who is NHL teammates with Matthew on the Florida Panthers. —Scott Thompson, Fox News, 18 Feb. 2025

As France’s players wildly celebrated their victory at the end of a frenetic match, players from both sides squared up to one another and the bad blood continued down the tunnel. —Tom Burrows, The Athletic, 2 Aug. 2024

Things got physical in a pileup in front of the benches and Oliver Wahlstrom squared up with Keegan Kolesar, who scored the takedown. —Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 8 Feb. 2025

The staff member can be seen cowering down to fend off the attack and then turns and squares up to the irate passenger, who’s wearing a green colored top and army green pants. —Michael Dorgan, Fox News, 29 Nov. 2024

Rhymes for square up

• buttercup
• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup