pump iron

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pump iron

To lift weights at a gym to improve one's body shape or increase one's muscle mass. My brother-in-law is obsessed with pumping iron and getting huge biceps.

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pump (some) iron

Sl. to lift weights for exercise. Andy went down to the gym to pump some iron. Mary's hobbies are pumping iron and running.

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pump iron

Lift weights, as in She's started pumping iron three times a week. This idiom was born with the late-20th-century stress on physical fitness. [Second half of 1900s]

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pump iron

If someone pumps iron, they lift heavy weights for exercise. Unlike Richard, I hadn't spent hours pumping iron and running on the treadmill.

See also: iron, pump

pump iron

exercise with weights. informal

See also: iron, pump

pump ˈiron

(informal) do exercises in which you lift heavy weights in order to strengthen your muscles: I should take more exercise, but I’m not interested in pumping iron at the local gym three evenings a week.

See also: iron, pump

pump iron

verb

See pump some iron

See also: iron, pump

pump iron

Sports

To lift weights.

See also: iron, pump