Word.ws English Dictionary

up

UK/ʌp/

More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations

Northern England[ʊp]

up adverb: away from the surface of the Earth or other planet; in opposite direction to the downward pull of gravity.

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.
    • Shoots grow up and roots grow down.
    Synonyms:
    alley oop
  2. To or at a physically higher or more elevated position.
    • All day we climbed up and up.
    • Lift the carpet up and look underneath.
  3. To an upright or erect position.
    • sit up; stand up; get up out of bed
  4. (figuratively) 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.
  5. To or towards what is considered the top of something, irrespective of whether this is presently physically higher.
    • Go back up to the top of the page.
    • As I lay on my back, a pain shot up from my toes to my chest.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. Towards the principal terminus, towards milepost zero.
  9. (UK, dated) To university, especially to Cambridge or Oxford.
    • She's going up to read Classics this September.
    • 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.1867, John Timbs, Lives of wits and humourists, page 125
  10. Against the wind or current.
  11. Towards the source of a river, against the direction of flow.
    • We started in London and rowed all the way up to Oxford.
  12. (Cartesian graph) In a positive vertical direction.
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  1. 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.
  2. (emphatic, 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.
  3. To one's possession or consideration.
    • I picked up some milk on the way home.
    • The committee will take up your request.
  4. From one's possession or consideration.
    • She had to give up her driver's license after the accident.
    • Instead of apologising, he offered up excuse after excuse.
  5. Aside or away, so as no longer to be present or in use.
    • to lay up riches; put up your weapons
  6. Relatively close to the batsman.
    • The bowler pitched the ball up.
  7. (US) Without additional ice.
    • A Cosmopolitan is typically served up.

Preposition

up

  1. Toward the top of.
    • 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.
    • Though the storm raged up the East Coast, it has become increasingly apparent that New Jersey took the brunt of it.2012 October 31, David M. Halbfinger, New York Times, retrieved 31 Oct 2012
  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. (slang, vulgar) Of a person: 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.
    • “I'll tell you how I got on in the fight if I should see you up the Smokers.”2016, Alan Moore, Jerusalem, Liveright, published 2016, page 94

Adjective

up (not comparable)

  1. Facing upwards.
    • Turn the cloth over so that the patterned side is up.
    • 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.1983, Gary E. Meek, Stephen J. Turner, Statistical Analysis for Business Decisions, page 41
  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. (broadly) 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. (Australia) Of a river, in flood or at a high level.
    • In the late afternoon we rode among the fine trees of the Barker, which was ‘up’ too, but not so strongly as the Lennard.1937, Ion L. Idriess, Over the Range, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, published 1947, page 9
  9. Built, constructed.
    • Are the new buildings up yet?
  10. Standing; upright.
    • The audience were up and on their feet.
  11. (obsolete) Risen up, rebelling, in revolt.
    • 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.1593, anonymous author, The Life and Death of Iacke Straw […], →OCLC, Act I
  12. Awake and out of bed.
    • So if you find yourself regularly up late at night, basking in the TV's glow, you might be doing more than just depriving yourself of sleep.2025 December 9, Veronique Greenwood, “Your Bedroom Probably Isn't Dark Enough”, in TIME
    • I can’t believe it’s 3 a.m. and you’re still up.
    Synonyms:
    upright
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  1. Riding the horse; mounted.
  2. Above the horizon, in the sky.
    • It'll get warmer once the sun's up.
    • 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.[1898], J[ohn] Meade Falkner, Moonfleet, London; Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934, →OCLC
  3. Larger; greater in quantity, volume, value etc.
    • Sales are up compared to last quarter.
    • My temperature is up this morning.
  4. Indicating a larger or higher quantity.
    • The barometer is up, so fine weather should be on the way.
  5. Ahead; leading; winning.
    • The home team were up by two goals at half-time.
  6. (predicative) Finished, at an end.
    • Time is up!
    • Her contract is up next month, so it's time to negotiate another one.
  7. In a good mood.
    • I’m feeling up today.
  8. (usually in the phrase up for) Willing; ready.
    • If you are up for a trip, let’s go.
  9. Next in a sequence.
    • Smith is up to bat.
  10. (predicative) 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?
  11. (postpositional) Said of the higher-ranking pair in a two pair.
    • AAKK = aces up
    • QQ33 = queens up
  12. Well-informed; current.
    • I’m not up on the latest news. What’s going on?
  13. Functional; working.
    • Is the server back up?
  14. Traveling towards a major terminus.
    • The London train is on the up line.
  15. (US) Chilled and served without ice; (often specifically) shaken with ice and then strained into a coupe for serving, leaving the ice behind.
    • Would you like that drink up or on ice?
  16. (slang) Erect.
  17. (UK, dated) At university (especially Oxford or Cambridge).
    • 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.2002, Philip Pullman, “Dreaming of Spires”, in Daemon Voices, Vintage, published 2017, page 98
  18. (slang) Well-known; renowned.
    • Being "up" means having numerous graffiti in the tagging landscape.1996, Matthew Busby Hunt, The Sociolinguistics of Tagging and Chicano Gang Graffiti, page 71
    • 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.2009, Gregory J. Snyder, Graffiti Lives: Beyond the Tag in New York's Urban Underground, pages 16–40

Noun (1)

up (countable and uncountable, 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.
  3. (particle) An up quark.
  4. An upstairs room of a two story house.
    • She lives in a two-up two-down.

Verb

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

  1. (in-certain-phrases, poetic, transitive) To physically raise or lift.
    • We upped anchor and sailed away.
  2. (colloquial, transitive) 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.
  3. (colloquial, transitive) To promote.
    • It wasn’t long before they upped him to Vice President.
    • The other day Mr. Meyer came to see me in Weinbergers, it caused a great sensation & I think upped me a lot in prestige there1940, Jessica Mitford, Peter Y. Sussman, Decca: The Letters of Jessica Mitford, published 2010, page 64
  4. (in-compounds, intransitive, often) 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.
  5. (archaic, intransitive, poetic) To ascend; to climb up.
    • "Will ye up, lass, and ride behind me?".1863, Charles Kingsley, The Water Babies, page 10
  6. (slang, transitive) To upload.
    • 100 new apps and games have just been upped.

Proper noun capitalized: UP

UP

  1. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of Upper Peninsula.
  2. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of United Presbyterian.
  3. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of Uttar Pradesh: a state of India.
    • To study old photographs from UP villages like the one where Ram Dass lived is to be reminded of how rural history writes upon the body.2017, Sunil Khilnani, Incarnations, Penguin, page 402
  4. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of Unified Process.
  5. (Philippines, abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of University of the Philippines.
  6. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of Union Pacific.

Noun (2) capitalized: UP

UP (plural UPs)

  1. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of unqualified prospect.
  2. (abbreviation, initialism) Initialism of university press.
    • Oxford UP; Princeton UP

up meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and Arabic

up in Hindi

away from earth’s surface
ऊपर ūpar

up in Marathi

away from earth’s surface
वर var

up in Urdu

away from earth’s surface
اوپر ūpar

up in Arabic

away from earth’s surface
فَوْقَ fawqa, فَوْق fawq
toward the top
لِأَعْلَى liʔaʕlā
More languagesFewer languages
up in Malay
ke atas, naik, habis, tamat
up in Persian
بالا bâlâ, ابَر abar, بُرز borz, فراز farâz
up in Thai
ขึ้น kʉ̂n
up in Vietnamese
lên

Examples of up in a sentence

  • He lives up in the hills.
  • Listen to your voice go up at the end of a question.
  • Cheer up, the weekend's almost here.
  • Let’s move up to the front of the bus.
  • He lives up by the railway station.
  • I'm going to be walking quickly, but try to keep up with me.

All 40 example sentences with up

Synonyms of up

Antonyms

Forms of up

Noun
pluralups
pluralUPs
Verb
third-person singular presentups
present participleupping
past participleupped
pastupped

Plural of up: ups

Origin of up

From Middle English up, op, oup, from Old English upp, up, ūp (“up”), from Proto-West Germanic *upp, *ūp, from Proto-Germanic *upp, *eup (“up”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian ap (“up”), West Frisian op (“up”), Dutch op (“up”), German Low German up, op (“up”), German auf (“up”), Danish op (“up”), Swedish upp (“up”), Icelandic upp (“up”), Gothic 𐌹𐌿𐍀 (iup, “up”).

Words formed from up

Phrases with up

179 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with up

12 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about up

What does up mean?
Up means away from the surface of the Earth or other planet; in opposite direction to the downward pull of gravity.
What is up in Hindi?
Up in Hindi is ऊपर (ūpar). See Up meaning in Hindi.
How do you use up in a sentence?
He lives up in the hills.
What part of speech is up?
Up can be an adverb, a preposition, an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce up?
Up is pronounced /ʌp/ (UK).

Words near up in the dictionary

  1. uORF
  2. uORFs
  3. Uotsuri
  4. Uotsuri Island
  5. Uotsuri-shima
  6. up
  7. up a close
  8. up a creek
  9. up a creek without a paddle
  10. up a gum tree
  11. up a height

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: up (page history and authors); 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-us-up.ogg, en-au-up.ogg.

Cite this entry: “up.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/up. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.