English

Verb

wrap up

1. (transitive and intransitive) To cover or enclose (something) by folding and securing a covering entirely around it.

   He wrapped up the parcel with brown paper.

2. (transitive and intransitive, idiomatic) To conclude or finish completely.

   Let me wrap up this project before I begin a new one.

   • 2011 January 18, “Wolverhampton 5 - 0 Doncaster”, in BBC:

     Kevin Doyle cut inside and drove a third, Matt Jarvis hammered in a fourth and David Jones lashed in deep into injury time to wrap it up.

3. (transitive and intransitive, idiomatic) To put on abundant clothing as protection from the weather; to bundle up.

   It's a cold, snowy day and I'm going to wrap up thoroughly before I go sledding.

4. (transitive and intransitive, idiomatic) To summarize or recapitulate.

   The newscaster wrapped up the day's events.

5. (transitive, idiomatic, figuratively) To tie up; to make too busy to respond.
   • 2011 October 23, Tom Fordyce, “2011 Rugby World Cup final: New Zealand 8-7 France”, in BBC Sport:

     With the seconds slipping away and the gap just one point, France went through an 18-phase attack that made little ground but resulted in an attacking scrum on the New Zealand 10m line, only for the hosts to steal the ball back when Aurelien Rougerie was wrapped up.

Antonyms

• unwrap

Related terms

• wrap-up noun

Translations