Definition of "up"

up

/ʌp/

adverb
not comparable
1. Away from the surface of the Earth or other planet; in opposite direction to the downward pull of gravity.
2. To or at a physically higher or more elevated position.
  Quotations
  ‘The Phantom! The Phantom is up from the cellars again!’
  1925, Walter Anthony and Tom Reed (titles), Rupert Julian (director), The Phantom of the Opera, silent movie
3. To a higher level of some quantity or notional quantity, such as price, volume, pitch, happiness, etc.
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.
5. (intensifier) Used as an aspect marker to indicate a completed action or state; thoroughly, completely.
6. To or from one's possession or consideration.
7. To the north (as north is at the top of typical maps).
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.
9. (rail transport) Towards the principal terminus, towards milepost zero.
10. Aside or away, so as no longer to be present or in use.
11. (sailing) Against the wind or current.
12. (Cartesian graph) In a positive vertical direction.
13. (cricket) Relatively close to the batsman.
14. (US, bartending) Without additional ice.
15. (UK, academia, dated) To university, especially to Cambridge or Oxford.
  Quotations
  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
  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.
  1998, Rita McWilliams Tullberg, Women at Cambridge, page 112
  A precocious mathematician, Babbage was already well versed in the Continental mathematical notations when he went up to Cambridge.
  2002, Peter Harman, Cambridge Scientific Minds, page 79
preposition
1. Toward the top of.
  Quotations
  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.
  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.
2. Toward the center, source, or main point of reference; toward the end at which something is attached.
3. From south to north of.
  Quotations
  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 October 2012
4. Further along (in any direction).
5. From the mouth towards the source of (a river or waterway).
6. (vulgar slang) Of a man: having sex with.
7. (colloquial) At (a given place, especially one imagined to be higher or more distant from a central location).
  Quotations
  “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
not comparable
1. Facing upwards.
  Quotations
  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.
3. Headed or designated to go upward (as an escalator, stairway, elevator etc.) or toward (as a run-up).
4. Fitted or fixed at a high or relatively high position, especially on a wall or ceiling.
5. (by extension) Available to view or use; made public; posted.
6. Aloft.
7. Raised; lifted.
8. Built, constructed.
9. Standing; upright.
10. (obsolete) Risen up, rebelling, in revolt.
  Quotations
  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 […], Act I
11. Awake and out of bed.
12. (horse-racing) Riding the horse; mounted.
13. (of the sun or moon) Above the horizon, in the sky.
  Quotations
  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. Meade Falkner, chapter 4, in Moonfleet, London, Toronto, Ont.: Jonathan Cape, published 1934
14. Larger; greater in quantity, volume, value etc.
15. Indicating a larger or higher quantity.
16. Ahead; leading; winning.
17. Finished, to an end
18. In a good mood.
19. (usually in the phrase up for) Willing; ready.
20. Next in a sequence.
21. (not used attributively) Happening; new; of concern. See also what's up, what's up with.
22. (poker, postnominal) Said of the higher-ranking pair in a two pair.
23. Well-informed; current.
24. (computing) Functional; working.
25. (of a railway line or train) Traveling towards a major terminus.
26. (US, bartending) Chilled and served without ice.
27. (slang) Erect.
28. (UK) At university (especially Oxford or Cambridge).
  Quotations
  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
29. (slang, graffiti) well-known; renowned
  Quotations
  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
  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.
  2011, Adam Melnyk, Visual Orgasm: The Early Years of Canadian Graffiti
  Won by Park Top (Lester Piggott up), at Epsom on June 5, 1969
  2003, Nicolas Barker, The Devonshire Inheritance: Five Centuries of Collecting at Chatsworth
noun
plural ups
1. (uncountable) The direction opposed to the pull of gravity.
2. (countable) A positive thing, or a time or situation when things are going well.
3. (particle physics) An up quark.
4. An upstairs room of a two story house.
verb
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.
2. (transitive, colloquial) To increase the level or amount of.
  Quotations
  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
  2008, Randy Wayne White, Black Widow‎, page 181
  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.
  2011 December 10, Marc Higginson, “Bolton 1 - 2 Aston Villa”, in BBC Sport‎
  It says that while European countries upped their subsidies by 6% between 2018-20, the growth in business was only 0.45%.
  2023 November 29, “Network News: European services 'stifled by subsidies', says ALLRAIL”, in RAIL, number 997, page 21
3. (transitive, colloquial) To promote.
  Quotations
  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
  1940, Jessica Mitford, Peter Y. Sussman, Decca: The Letters of Jessica Mitford‎, published 2010, page 64
  "Ryker's a--" He swallowed. "A cop. Used to work Sleeve Theft, then they upped him to the Organic Damage Division.
  2003, Richard K. Morgan, Altered Carbon‎, page 136
  (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
  2005, Larry Brody, Turning Points in Television‎, page 70
4. (intransitive, often in combination with another verb) To rise to a standing position; hence, by extension, to act suddenly; see also up and.
  Quotations
  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.'
  1895, “Waltzing Matilda”, Banjo Paterson (lyrics)‎
  And she didn't leave a letter, she just upped and ran away
  1991, Michael Jackson (lyrics and music), “Who Is It”
5. (intransitive, archaic or poetic) To ascend; to climb up.
  Quotations
  "Will ye up, lass, and ride behind me?".
  1863, Charles Kingsley, The Water Babies, page 10
6. (computing, slang, transitive) To upload.