noun information. Originally military, possibly deriving from the phrase 'for the general information of all ranks' UK, 1940
Ⅱ⇨ gen; gen up
verb to learn; to inform, to brief. After the noun UK, 1943
phrasegen[genned, genned, genning] gen up1.be genned upBrE old-fashioned informal to know a lot about a particular subject: Why don't you ask Sue? She's pretty genned up about that sort of thing.2.gen upBrE old-fashioned to find out all the information you can about something so that you are ready to do something+ onIt's a good idea to gen up on the company before you go to an interview.get genned upI'll get genned up on what I've got to do at the wedding.