hoover up

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hoover up (third-person singular simple present hoovers up, present participle hoovering up, simple past and past participle hoovered up)

1. (transitive, colloquial) To suck (something) into a vacuum cleaner, irrespective of brand.

   Don't worry about the mess on the carpet - I'll hoover it up later.

2. (intransitive, colloquial) To do the vacuuming.

   I'll hoover up after I've finished washing the dishes.

3. (transitive, colloquial, idiomatic) To consume (food or drink) quickly, especially by taking it into the mouth directly from the plate rather than using cutlery.
4. (transitive, colloquial, figuratively) To avidly absorb something as if by a vacuum cleaner.
   • 2012 October 20, “The rise of the yuan: Turning from green to red”, in The Economist:

     […] a deputy governor of China’s central bank pointed out that China no longer hoovers up dollar reserves with its past abandon.

   • 2022 November 16, Nigel Harris, “Endless news... little context”, in RAIL, number 970, page 3:

     Essentially, the problem dates back to pre-privatisation, cost-driven British Rail practices which featured an unholy pact between management and unions, whereby management was able to employ fewer drivers and limited pension cost liabilities, while drivers were able to hoover up lots of lucrative Sunday overtime.

• see Hoover

• bolt
• scarf down
• wolf down
• vacuum up