Tried to gussy it up with political motivation.

Lesser chefs might try to gussy up gnocchi, which can be tricky to prepare in a restaurant.

For dinner, you don't have to gussy up too much for the Spotted Dog but it might be nice to look fresh while people-watching on the patio.

For another, Staples wasn't a typical Bain Capital deal, in which the firm took over a well-established company and tried to gussy it up for resale.

It's supposed to represent fog from the ocean, but it's really the smoke of desperation, something Broadway directors bring out when they want to gussy up a dull scene.

Thrilled at the prospect of some mossweed, Perian had al- lowed herself to be swept away by some frawls, who wanted to gussy her up for the festivities.

And if her stage presence indicated she was more showgirl than musician, at least she knew how to gussy up her act for the postfeminist MTV age.

Witness his bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich: Mr. London does not tamper with this classic by trying to gussy it up with avocado or other fashionable ingredients.

Although he tries to gussy up the familiarity of his material with tongue-in-cheek asides and self-dramatizing scenes, such efforts almost always turn out to be willfully juvenile or embarrassingly cute.

THEIR publicist - and it seems as if everyone in New York's on-line world has one these days - tried to gussy up Nerve's image by claiming that the two worked from their bed, a modern John and Yoko.