butter up

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Food prices are climbing sharply in Algeria, where shoppers say cooking oil and milk are so scarce that you need to butter up shopkeepers to get any.

From BBC

The company’s prepaid Connect plans launched in 2020 and were part of T-Mobile’s efforts to butter up regulators to allow its massive merger with Sprint to go through.

From The Verge

But there is an almost universal expectation that he will, and Wednesday's right-wing cotillion may be a way to butter up crucial allies should he decide to run.

From Salon

One of his senior advisors told me this last August when I arrived in Brussels, and I wondered whether it was as a cholesterol-enriched ploy to butter up the new British arrival.

From BBC

The president later told vaccinators to “fire away” and buttered up one recipient by claiming his biceps were bigger than his own thighs.

From Washington Times