1 C1 idiomatic informal
To ruin or spoil something, especially through carelessness or incompetence.
"Don't let him near the carburetor — he'll booger up the whole engine."
separable
booger up
C1 informal separable transitive
To ruin, spoil, or make a mess of something, used in Southern US dialect.
In plain English
To mess something up or break it so it doesn't work right.
What does "booger up" mean?
2 meanings, ordered from most common to least. Color-coded by CEFR level.
2 C1 idiomatic informal
To clog or jam a mechanism so that it stops working properly.
"All that mud got in the gears and boogered up the whole machine."
separable
Literal vs figurative
Words literally mean
To apply something resembling nasal mucus (a 'booger') onto something — implying contamination or fouling of a mechanism.
Actually means
To mess something up or break it so it doesn't work right.
Usage tip
Highly regional; found primarily in rural Southern United States. Considered crude or folksy by many speakers. Rarely used in writing. Interchangeable with 'mess up' or 'screw up' in those dialects.
Words that pair with "booger up"
Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.
plans engine machine job works things
How to conjugate "booger up"
The five tense forms you'll use most often.
Base
booger up
I/you/we/they
3rd person
boogers up
he/she/it
Past simple
boogered up
yesterday
Past participle
boogered up
have + pp
-ing form
boogering up
continuous
Hear "booger up" in the wild
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