at knifepoint, work something up

The contestant learned her mother was raped at knifepoint.

work something up

1 Bring something gradually to a more complete or satisfactory state: painters were accustomed to working up compositions from drawings

More example sentences

• The first is where you have some wax and you work it up and bring some things in.
• He works his paintings up from informative sketches.

The average African beer drinker works 2-6 hours to earn enough to buy half a litre. The average American needs to work just 17 minutes http://econ.st/1mNyVtg

knifepoint

Line breaks: knife|point

Pronunciation: /ˈnʌɪfpɔɪnt /

NOUN

(in phrase at knifepoint)

• While threatening someone or being threatened with a knife:she was raped at knifepoint