buck up

Bernard DeVoto once tried to buck up his friend Catherine Drinker Bowen, who was wavering between a career in history and one in music.

She, too, had a strong inclination to tell Lord Fredrick to buck up and look on the bright side.

Somehow, the sight of those stoic palace guards made her buck up a bit, with their imperturbable faces and brave fur hats.

The pair were told to buck up their ideas by the referee as they began talking to each other during the middle of the rounds.

What’s continued to set the Fosters apart is their work bucking up evacuees and neighbors.