up definition

English up definition

Etymology

From Middle English up, from Old English upp, from Proto-Germanic *upp, see more there.

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: ŭp, IPA^(key): /ʌp/, [ɐʔp]
• (US) enPR: ŭp, IPA^(key): /ʌp/, [ʌp̚]

• Audio (GA)

  (file)

• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ap/, [äp]

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌp

Adverb

up (not comparable)

1. Away from the surface of the Earth or other planet; in opposite direction to the downward pull of gravity.

   I looked up and saw the airplane overhead.

2. To or at a physically higher or more elevated position.

   All day we climbed up and up.

   • 1925, Walter Anthony and Tom Reed (titles), Rupert Julian (director), The Phantom of the Opera, silent movie

     ‘The Phantom! The Phantom is up from the cellars again!’

3. To a higher level of some quantity or notional quantity, such as price, volume, pitch, happiness, etc.

   Gold has gone up with the uncertainty in the world markets.

   Turn it up, I can barely hear it.

   Listen to your voice go up at the end of a question.

   Cheer up, the weekend's almost here.

4. To or in a position of equal advance or equality; not short of, back of, less advanced than, away from, etc.; usually followed by to or with.

   I was up to my chin in water.

   A stranger came up and asked me for directions.

5. (intensifier) Used as an aspect marker to indicate a completed action or state; thoroughly, completely.

   I will mix up the puzzle pieces.

   Tear up the contract.

   He really messed up.

   Please type up our monthly report.

   Drink up. The pub is closing.

   Can you sum up your research?

   The meteor burned up in the atmosphere.

   I need to sew up the hole in this shirt.

6. To or from one's possession or consideration.

   I picked up some milk on the way home.

   The committee will take up your request.

   She had to give up her driver's license after the accident.

7. To the north (as north is at the top of typical maps).

   I live in Florida, but I'm going up to New York to visit my family this weekend.

8. Towards or at a central place, or any place that is visualised as 'up' by virtue of local features or local convention, or arbitrarily, irrespective of direction or elevation change.

   We travelled from Yorkshire up to London.

   I'm going up to the other end of town.

   He lives up by the railway station.

9. (rail transport) Towards the principal terminus, towards milepost zero.
10. Aside or away, so as no longer to be present or in use.

    to lay up riches; put up your weapons

11. (sailing) Against the wind or current.
12. (Cartesian graph) In a positive vertical direction.
13. (cricket) Relatively close to the batsman.

    The bowler pitched the ball up.

14. (US, bartending) Without additional ice.

    A Cosmopolitan is typically served up.

15. (UK, academia, dated) To university, especially to Cambridge or Oxford.

    She's going up to read Classics this September.

    • 1867, John Timbs, Lives of wits and humourists, page 125:

      The son of the Dean of Lichfield was only three years older than Steele, who was a lad of only twelve, when at the age of fifteen, Addison went up to Oxford.

    • 1998, Rita McWilliams Tullberg, Women at Cambridge, page 112:

      Others insinuated that women 'crowded up to Cambridge', not for the benefits of a higher education, but because of the proximity of 2,000 young men.

    • 2002, Peter Harman, Cambridge Scientific Minds, page 79:

      A precocious mathematician, Babbage was already well versed in the Continental mathematical notations when he went up to Cambridge.

Synonyms

• (away from the centre of the Earth): alley oop (rare)

Antonyms

• (away from the centre of the Earth): down
• (louder): down
• (higher in pitch): down
• (towards the principal terminus): down

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Preposition

up

1. Toward the top of.
   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

     Judge Short had gone to town, and Farrar was off for a three days' cruise up the lake. I was bitterly regretting I had not gone with him when the distant notes of a coach horn reached my ear, and I descried a four-in-hand winding its way up the inn road from the direction of Mohair.

   The cat climbed up the tree.

   They walk up the steps.

2. Toward the center, source, or main point of reference; toward the end at which something is attached.

   The information made its way up the chain of command to the general.

   I felt something crawling up my arm.

3. From south to north of.

   We sailed up the East Coast of England from Ipswich to South Shields.

   • 2012 October 31, David M. Halbfinger, New York Times, retrieved 31 October 2012:

     Though the storm raged up the East Coast, it has become increasingly apparent that New Jersey took the brunt of it.

4. Further along (in any direction).

   Go up the street until you see the sign.

5. From the mouth towards the source of (a river or waterway).

   He led an expedition up the Amazon.

6. (vulgar slang) Of a man: having sex with.

   Phwoar, look at that bird. I'd love to be up her.

7. (colloquial) At (a given place, especially one imagined to be higher or more distant from a central location).

   I'll see you later up the snooker club.

   • 2016, Alan Moore, Jerusalem, Liveright, published 2016, page 94:

     “I'll tell you how I got on in the fight if I should see you up the Smokers.”

Antonyms

• (toward the top of): down

Related terms

Translations

Adjective

up (not comparable)

1. Facing upwards.

   Turn the cloth over so that the patterned side is up.

   • 1983, Gary E. Meek, Stephen J. Turner, Statistical Analysis for Business Decisions, page 41:

     Suppose that we roll a fair die and flip a fair coin in a game that awards 10 dollars whenever one pip shows on the up face of the die and 2 dollars whenever a head shows on the up side of the coin.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:up.
2. On or at a physically higher level.

   The flood waters are up again across large areas of the country.

3. Headed or designated to go upward (as an escalator, stairway, elevator etc.) or toward (as a run-up).

   Where is the up escalator?

4. Fitted or fixed at a high or relatively high position, especially on a wall or ceiling.

   All the notices are up now.

   The Christmas decorations are up.

5. (by extension) Available to view or use; made public; posted.

   Is your new video up yet? I looked on the website, but I couldn't find it.

6. Aloft.

   The kite is up!

7. Raised; lifted.

   The castle drawbridge was up.

   Don't go into the living room just now – I've got the carpet up.

8. Built, constructed.

   Are the new buildings up yet?

9. Standing; upright.

   The audience were up and on their feet.

10. (obsolete) Risen up, rebelling, in revolt.
    • 1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw […], Act I:

      The fearefull newes that whilſt the flame doth but begin,
      Sad pollicie may ſerue to quench the fire:
      The Commons nowe are vp in Kent, let vs not ſuffer this firſt attempt too farre.

11. Awake and out of bed.

    I can’t believe it’s 3 a.m. and you’re still up.

12. (horse-racing) Riding the horse; mounted.
13. (of the sun or moon) Above the horizon, in the sky.

    It'll get warmer once the sun's up.

    • 1898, J. Meade Falkner, chapter 4, in Moonfleet, London, Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934:

      I have said I was still in darkness, yet it was not the blackness of the last night; and looking up into the inside of the tomb above, I could see the faintest line of light at one corner, which showed the sun was up.

14. Larger; greater in quantity, volume, value etc.

    Sales are up compared to last quarter.

    My temperature is up this morning.

15. Indicating a larger or higher quantity.

    The barometer is up, so fine weather should be on the way.

16. Ahead; leading; winning.

    The home team were up by two goals at half-time.

18. Finished, to an end

    Time is up!

    Her contract is up next month, so it's time to negotiate another one.

19. In a good mood.

    I’m feeling up today.

20. (usually in the phrase up for) Willing; ready.

    If you are up for a trip, let’s go.

21. Next in a sequence.

    Smith is up to bat.

23. (not used attributively) Happening; new; of concern. See also what's up, what's up with.

    What's up, bro?

    What is up with that project at headquarters?

    When I saw his face, I knew something was up.

24. (poker, postnominal) Said of the higher-ranking pair in a two pair.

    AAKK = aces up

    QQ33 = queens up

25. Well-informed; current.

    I’m not up on the latest news. What’s going on?

26. (computing) Functional; working.

    Is the server back up?

27. (of a railway line or train) Traveling towards a major terminus.

    The London train is on the up line.

28. (US, bartending) Chilled and served without ice.

    Would you like that drink up or on ice?

29. (slang) Erect. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
30. (UK) At university (especially Oxford or Cambridge).
    • 2002, Philip Pullman, “Dreaming of Spires”, in Daemon Voices, Vintage, published 2017, page 98:

      When I was up (1965–68) I had a group of idle friends who occupied their time and mine betting on horses, getting drunk and sprawling about telling creepy tales.

31. (slang, graffiti) well-known; renowned
    • 1996, Matthew Busby Hunt, The Sociolinguistics of Tagging and Chicano Gang Graffiti, page 71:

      Being "up" means having numerous graffiti in the tagging landscape.

    • 2009, Gregory J. Snyder, Graffiti Lives: Beyond the Tag in New York's Urban Underground, pages 16–40:

      Graffiti writers want their names seen by writers and others so that they will be famous. Therefore writers are very serious about any opportunity to “get up.” […] The throw-up became one of the fundamental techniques for getting up, and thereby gaining recognition and fame.

    • 2011, Adam Melnyk, Visual Orgasm: The Early Years of Canadian Graffiti:

      From his great rooftop pieces, selected for high visibility, to his sneaky tags and fun loving stickers, he most certainly knows how to get up.

    • 2003, Nicolas Barker, The Devonshire Inheritance: Five Centuries of Collecting at Chatsworth:

      Won by Park Top (Lester Piggott up), at Epsom on June 5, 1969

Antonyms

• (facing upwards): down
• (on a higher level): down
• (computing: functional): down
• (traveling towards a major terminus): down

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

up (plural ups)

1. (uncountable) The direction opposed to the pull of gravity.

   Up is a good way to go.

2. (countable) A positive thing, or a time or situation when things are going well.

   I hate almost everything about my job. The only up is that it's so close to home.

   There are many ups to caravanning, but also many downs.

   I've been on an up all this week.

3. (particle physics) An up quark.

   Hypernym: flavor

4. An upstairs room of a two story house.

   She lives in a two-up two-down.

Antonyms

• (direction opposed to the pull of gravity): down

Derived terms

• mark-up
• on the up-and-up

Related terms

• ups and downs

Translations

Verb

up (third-person singular simple present ups, present participle upping, simple past and past participle upped)

1. (transitive, poetic or in certain phrases) To physically raise or lift.

   We upped anchor and sailed away.

2. (transitive, colloquial) To increase the level or amount of.

   If we up the volume, we may be able to hear what he says.

   As usual, they've upped the prices for Valentine's Day.

   • 2008, Randy Wayne White, Black Widow‎^[1], page 181:

     Part of the woman's mystique, I guess. Makes people want to meet her all the more. A year ago, she upped her stock with that crowd when she bought the Midnight Star — among the world's most famous star sapphires

   • 2011 December 10, Marc Higginson, “Bolton 1 - 2 Aston Villa”, in BBC Sport‎^[2]:

     After a dreadful performance in the opening 45 minutes, they upped their game after the break and might have taken at least a point from the match.

3. (transitive, colloquial) To promote.

   It wasn’t long before they upped him to Vice President.

   • 1940, Jessica Mitford, Peter Y. Sussman, Decca: The Letters of Jessica Mitford‎^[3], published 2010, page 64:

     The other day Mr. Meyer came to see me in Weinbergers, it caused a great sensation & I think upped me a lot in prestige there

   • 2003, Richard K. Morgan, Altered Carbon‎^[4], page 136:

     "Ryker's a--" He swallowed. "A cop. Used to work Sleeve Theft, then they upped him to the Organic Damage Division.

   • 2005, Larry Brody, Turning Points in Television‎^[5], page 70:

     (And who, by the way, got his start as a producer from Desi Arnaz, who upped him from film editor to take charge of the Desilu series The Untouchables

4. (intransitive, often in combination with another verb) To rise to a standing position; hence, by extension, to act suddenly; see also up and.

   She was sitting there quietly, then all of a sudden she upped and left.

   He just upped and quit.

   He upped and punched that guy.

   • 1895, “Waltzing Matilda”, Banjo Paterson (lyrics)‎^[6]:

     But the swagman he up and jumped into the waterhole,
     Drowning himself by the coolibah tree.
     And his ghost may be heard as it sings by the billabong,
     'Who'll come a'waltzing Matilda, with me.'

   • 1991, Michael Jackson (lyrics and music), “Who Is It”:

     And she didn't leave a letter, she just upped and ran away

5. (intransitive, archaic or poetic) To ascend; to climb up.
   • 1863, Charles Kingsley, The Water Babies, page 10:

     "Will ye up, lass, and ride behind me?".

6. (computing, slang, transitive) To upload.

   100 new apps and games have just been upped.

Derived terms

Translations

References

• Andrea Tyler and Vyvyan Evans, "Spatial particles of orientation", in The Semantics of English Prepositions: Spatial Scenes, Embodied Meaning and Cognition, Cambridge University Press, 2003, 0-521-81430 8

Anagrams

• P U, PU, Pu

Chinese up definition

Etymology 1

From clipping of English update.

Pronunciation

Verb

up

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) to update

See also

• update (ap¹ dei¹)

Etymology 2

From clipping of English upload.

Pronunciation

Noun

up

1. Short for up主 (àpu-zhǔ).

Verb

up

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) to upload

See also

• upload (ap¹ lou¹)

Etymology 3

From English up.

Noun

up

1. above

   三十up  ―  sānshí up  ―  above thirty (years old)

Etymology 4

Irregular romanisation of 噏 (ap¹, ngap¹).

Verb

up

1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) Alternative form of 噏 (ap¹, ngap¹)

Derived terms

Middle Dutch up definition

Preposition

up

1. Alternative form of op

Adverb

up

1. Alternative form of op

Middle English up definition

Alternative forms

• upp, vp, ap

Etymology

From Old English upp, from Proto-Germanic *upp.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /up/

Adverb

up

1. to a vertical axis

Descendants

• English: up
• Scots: up
• Yola: ap, up

References

• “up, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Old Dutch up definition

Alternative forms

• ub, ob

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *upp

Adverb

ūp

1. up, upwards

References

• Altniederfränkischer Psalm 1

Old English up definition

Alternative forms

• upp

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *upp, akin to Old High German ūf, Old Norse upp.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /up/

Adverb

up

1. up

Descendants

• Middle English: up
  • English: up

Old Saxon up definition

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *upp.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /uːp/

Adverb

ūp

1. up

Preposition

ūp

1. upon

Yola up definition

Adverb

up

1. Alternative form of ap
   • 1867, “A YOLA ZONG”, in SONGS, ETC. IN THE DIALECT OF FORTH AND BARGY, number 6:

     Vrem ee Choure here aloghe up to Cargun.

     From the Choure here below up to Cargun.

References

• Jacob Poole (1867), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, page 86