English

Verb

double up ‎(third-person singular simple present doubles up, present participle doubling up, simple past and past participle doubled up)

1. (transitive) To double the quantity, amount or duration of something

   I'm going to double up my enlistment.

2. (poker, by extension, intransitive) To double one's amount of chips by winning an all-in pot.
3. (intransitive) To bend, bend over; to fold; to stoop.
   • 1886, Robert Louis Stevenson, Strange Case Of Dr Jekyll And Mr Hyde:

     "It is well, then that we should be frank," said the other. "We both think more than we have said; let us make a clean breast. This masked figure that you saw, did you recognise it?" / "Well, sir, it went so quick, and the creature was so doubled up, that I could hardly swear to that," was the answer. "But if you mean, was it Mr. Hyde?--why, yes, I think it was!"

4. (intransitive) To have a secondary use.

   This unfolding sofa doubles up as a bed.

5. (baseball, transitive) To get the second out in a double play, typically referring to getting an out by beating a runner back to a base (often by throwing) after a fly ball has been caught

   Jones snared the liner and then stepped on the bag to double up the runner.

6. (intransitive) To employ double the usual resources for a particular purpose.
   • 2012, Ben Smith, Leeds United 2-1 Everton

     Tactically smart, Leeds' work-rate was also admirable, their players often doubling up on Everton's main threats like Marouane Fellaini, while Victor Anichibe found he had unwelcome, unstinting company throughout.

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