# boost

Pronunciation: say "BOOST" US /bust/, AUS /buːst/

## Verb

1. To promote the growth or improvement of something, or to help it get past difficulties.
   - Simple: To help something grow stronger, increase, or get better.
   - _Lower interest rates often boost consumer spending._
   - _The advertising campaign boosted sales across the whole region._
4. To lift or push someone from behind who is trying to climb; to push them up.
   - Simple: To lift or push someone up from behind so they can climb.
   - _Two climbers boosted the youngest up to the narrow ledge._
   - _He bent down to boost his son onto the saddle._
5. To give someone a booster shot: an additional dose of a vaccine after the first ones.
   - Simple: To give someone an extra dose of a vaccine for more protection.
   - _Pharmacists can boost eligible patients during the same visit._
   - _The travel clinic boosted her before the trip abroad._
6. To jump-start a vehicle by running cables from the battery of a working vehicle to the dead one. *(Canada)*
   - Simple: To start a dead car battery using cables from another running car.
   - _A passing driver stopped to boost our stalled van._
   - _They boosted the SUV with jumper cables in the parking lot._
7. To amplify a signal, increasing its strength or power.
   - Simple: To make a radio, sound, or other signal stronger.
   - _Engineers boost the signal before it travels down the long cable._
   - _An amplifier boosted the weak broadcast across the region._
8. To steal something, especially as casual shoplifting or petty theft. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To take something that does not belong to you, without permission.
   - _The kids boosted a few magazines on a dare._
   - _She knew better than to boost anything from that store._

## Noun

2. Something that provides help, or adds power or effectiveness; a form of assistance.
   - Simple: Something that gives extra help or makes something stronger.
   - _The tax cut provided a much-needed boost to small businesses._
   - _Her kind words were a real boost to my spirits._
3. A push from behind or below, given to someone who is trying to climb.
   - Simple: A push from behind or below to help someone climb up.
   - _He needed a boost to reach the top of the wall._
   - _One boost from her teammates and she was over the ledge._
9. The positive intake manifold pressure produced in cars fitted with a turbocharger or supercharger.
   - Simple: Extra air pressure that a turbo or supercharger pushes into a car engine.
   - _Drivers watch the gauge to see how much boost the turbo is making._
   - _Too much boost can damage an engine that isn't built for it._
10. A coordinate transformation that changes the velocity between two frames of reference.
   - Simple: A way of switching to a point of view that moves at a different speed.
   - _Applying a boost along the x-axis relates the two observers' measurements of velocity._
   - _A boost along one axis leaves the perpendicular directions unchanged._

## Origin

The origin is unknown. The verb is first recorded in 1815 and the noun in 1825. It may compare to Scots "boost" (to move; drive off) and Middle English "boosten" (to threaten), and is possibly a doublet of "boast."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/boost (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).