English Reference

Phrasal verb

bitch up

Definition

phrasal verb. to spoil or ruin something by making a mistake or doing a bad job.

phrasal verb. to bungle, botch, or ruin a task or situation; a highly informal and potentially offensive vulgarism used to describe failure.

Examples

“I really bitched up that interview yesterday.”

“He tried to fix the sink himself but completely bitched up the plumbing.”

“The project was going smoothly until the new manager bitched up the entire schedule with unnecessary changes.”

Examples

simple

“I really bitched up that interview yesterday.”

contextual

“He tried to fix the sink himself but completely bitched up the plumbing.”

complex

“The project was going smoothly until the new manager bitched up the entire schedule with unnecessary changes.”

Usage

this is vulgar slang; use it only in very casual settings with people you know well.

Teaching tip

advise students that while they may hear this in movies or casual speech, it is considered rude and should be avoided in professional or formal contexts.

Pitfall

He bitched the plan up.

He bitched up the plan.

while some phrasal verbs are separable, this specific vulgar idiom is almost always used with the particle immediately following the verb.

Phrasal verb

Particles

up

Separability

inseparable

Pattern

bitch + up + object

Synonyms

mess upscrew upbotchbungle

Antonyms

Grammar

This entry

Level
C2 · Proficiency
Updated

Scan code

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English Reference