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cue up

B1 neutral separable transitive
In simple words

To get a song, video, or recording ready so it starts playing at the right place.

Literal meaning: To bring a cue (start point) up to the right position so the media is ready.

Meanings

1 B1 neutral

To prepare a piece of audio or video media to play from a particular point.

"Could you cue up that song for me before the guests arrive?"

Grammar: separable
2 B2 idiomatic informal

To prepare or arrange something in advance so it is ready to happen.

"She had three interviews cued up for the following morning."

Grammar: separable
3 B2 neutral

To signal a performer or broadcast element to begin at the right moment.

"The sound engineer cued up the intro music exactly on time."

Grammar: separable
Usage notes

Originally used in radio and film production; now very common in everyday speech with streaming services, playlists, and digital media. 'Queue up' (British spelling/usage) is sometimes confused with this phrase but has a distinct meaning.

Commonly used with

song video track playlist tape recording

Forms

Base
cue up
I/you/we/they
3rd person
cues up
he/she/it
Past simple
cued up
yesterday
Past participle
cued up
have + pp
-ing form
cuing up
continuous

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