raise your game

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

to improve one's performance, particularly in response to competitive pressure or in order to meet a higher standard than one has previously achieved; the phrase draws on the sporting metaphor of lifting one's level of play to match or exceed a stronger opponent, implying that the person being addressed is capable of performing better than they currently are and needs to mobilise additional effort, focus, or skill to do so; to raise your game is to answer a challenge not by complaining about its difficulty but by improving yourself to meet it, and the phrase is used both as encouragement and as a pointed criticism of someone who is underperforming relative to their potential or the demands of the situation