conjure up
1. Literally, to cause something to appear, as by magic or other supernatural means. A noun or pronoun can be used between "conjure" and "up." The magician wowed the crowd when he waved his hands and seemingly conjured up a rabbit. A: "All right, seriously, how did you conjure up that bouquet of flowers?" B: "Magic, my dear. I already told you." The teacher wants to collect our homework, so you better conjure up something quick, or else you'll get in trouble.
2. To locate something. A noun or pronoun can be used between "conjure" and "up." Hang on, let me see if I can conjure up a pen for you. Any luck conjuring up some limes? Hmm, I'm sure we can conjure up a makeshift Halloween costume from the kids' box of dress-up clothes.
3. To evoke thoughts or images of someone or something. A noun or pronoun can be used between "conjure" and "up." We can't name our baby Glinda—that name immediately conjures up images of "The Wizard of Oz"! As an author, your job is to conjure up the action in the reader's mind. I get that therapy conjures up images of lying on a couch and bemoaning your childhood, but it's really not like that.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
conjure someone or something up
1. Lit. to make someone or something appear, seemingly by the use of magic. The magician conjured seven white doves up. Then an old wizard conjured up a horse.
2. Fig. to manage to locate someone or something. I think I can conjure a pencil up for you. Do you think you can conjure up a large coffee urn in the next half hour?
3. Fig. to manage to think up or imagine someone or something in one's mind. Can you conjure a vision of grandma up? All I could do was to conjure up happy memeories.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.