Pushup

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An exercise performed while lying prone that involves lifting and lowering the body with the arms, enhancing strength primarily in the chest and triceps muscles
2. A physical activity executed in a horizontal position where the body is raised and lowered by flexing the arms, targeting upper body muscle groups
3. A fitness move done lying face down that engages the chest, shoulders, and arms by pressing the body upward and lowering it back down

Etymology: A push-up is a compound noun built from the verb phrase "push up," and the noun is a deverbal formation, meaning it was made by turning that verb phrase into a noun. The verb itself is the older and more basic piece: "push" plus the adverb "up," which in the phrase means raising the body away from the floor. The exercise is named for the action it describes, so the word records a movement rather than a piece of equipment or a technique. The pattern is a familiar one in English. Many nouns of this type, such as "check-up" or "make-up," were formed by taking a phrasal verb and treating the combined form as a thing or event. Here the noun names the repeated motion of pushing oneself upward, which is why the word reads like a description of what the body does.

Synonyms: exercise, push-up