know which end is up
know which end is up verb: to possess sound judgment or common sense; to have a clear understanding of a situation.
Verb
know which end is up (third-person singular simple present knows which end is up, present participle knowing which end is up, simple past knew which end is up, past participle known which end is up)
- To possess sound judgment or common sense; to have a clear understanding of a situation.
- He was too stoned to know which end was up.
- He's so in love, he doesn't know which end is up.1992, Dorothy Garlock, Glorious Dawn, →ISBN
- Synonyms:
- know which way is up
Examples of know which end is up in a sentence
- “I'm not some naïve, virginal little nothing who doesn't know which end is up.”2009, Lis Wiehl, April Henry, Face of Betrayal, →ISBN, page 145:
- “When someone doesn't know which end is up, who knows why they do things.”2011, Richard North Patterson, Silent Witness, →ISBN, page 277:
Synonyms of know which end is up
Forms of know which end is up
| third-person singular present | knows which end is up |
|---|---|
| present participle | knowing which end is up |
| past | knew which end is up |
| past participle | known which end is up |
Origin of know which end is up
From the common marking this end up on parcels to guide proper transport.
Questions about know which end is up
- What does know which end is up mean?
- Know which end is up means to possess sound judgment or common sense; to have a clear understanding of a situation.
- How do you use know which end is up in a sentence?
- “I'm not some naïve, virginal little nothing who doesn't know which end is up.”
- What part of speech is know which end is up?
- Know which end is up is a verb.
- What is the past tense of know which end is up?
- The past tense of know which end is up is knew which end is up.
Words near know which end is up in the dictionary
- know what's what
- know when to fold 'em
- know where one stands
- know where the bodies are buried
- know whether one is Arthur or Martha
- know which end is up
- know which side of one's bread is buttered
- know which side of the bread is buttered
- know which side one's bread is buttered on
- know which way is up
- know your place
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: know which end is up (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-know which end is up.ogg.
Cite this entry: “know which end is up.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/know_which_end_is_up. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.