Boost
verbTo increase, raise, or improve something, or to push someone or something upward.
How to spell boost
5 letters · 1 syllable
How to pronounce boost
What does boost mean?
- verbTo increase, raise, or improve something, or to push someone or something upward.
- nounAn increase, improvement, or helpful push.
Boost in a sentence
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verb
The new advert should boost weekend sales considerably.
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noun
The tax refund gave the family budget a welcome boost.
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verb
A strong coffee can boost your energy before a long drive.
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noun
Winning the contract was a huge boost to staff morale.
Where does boost come from?
Language of origin: Unknown
Boost is a relatively young word that surfaced in American English in the early 1800s, and its precise origin has never been pinned down with certainty. It seems to have begun as a colloquial or dialect term meaning to push or shove someone upward, as when one person gives another a leg up over a wall. From that literal sense of lifting a body higher, the meaning broadened to lifting anything: prices, morale, sales, or an engine's power. There is no convincing connection to any older Latin or French source, and most authorities simply mark it as origin unknown, possibly an emphatic blend of words like 'boom' and 'hoist'. Because the word is short, phonetic, and follows the familiar 'oo' pattern of 'roost' and 'boot', the spelling rarely causes adults any trouble.
How the word is built
- boost (single root, origin uncertain; no separable prefix or suffix)
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