# upstairs
## English
### Alternative forms

* up stairs, up-stairs (archaic)

### Etymology

From up- +‎ stair +‎ -s.

### Pronunciation

* (General American) IPA: /ˌʌpˈstɛɹz/, /ˈʌpˌstɛɹz/
** Audio (US); /ˌʌpˈstɛɹz/:(file)
* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˌʌpˈstɛəz/, /ˈʌpˌstɛəz/
* (General Australian) IPA: /ɐpˈsteːz/, /ˈɐpsteːz/
* (New Zealand, cheer–chair merger) IPA: /ɐpˈstiəz/, /ˈɐpˌstiəz/
* (New Zealand, without the cheer–chair merger) IPA: /ɐpˈsteəz/, /ˈɐpˌsteəz/
* (Scotland) IPA: /ʌpˈsteɹz/, /ˈʌpˌsteɹz/
* (Northern England) IPA: /ˌʊpˈstɛːz/, /ˈʊpˌstɛːz/
* (Lancashire, fair–fur merger) IPA: /ʊpˈstɜː(ɹ)z/, /ˈʊpˌstɜː(ɹ)z/
* Hyphenation: up‧stairs
* Rhymes: -ɛə(ɹ)z
* Homophones: upstares; upstirs (fair–fur merger)

### Adjective

upstairs (comparative further upstairs, superlative furthest upstairs)
* Located on a higher floor or level of a building.
    They can sleep in the upstairs bedroom.
* (baseball, informal) Pertaining to a pitched ball that is high, and usually outside the strike zone.
    That fastball was upstairs for a ball.

#### Derived terms

* upstairs-downstairs

#### Translations
### Adverb

upstairs (comparative further upstairs, superlative furthest upstairs)
* Up the stairs; on or to a higher floor or level.
    I’ll take my shoes and put them away the next time I go upstairs.
    I hate the people who live upstairs, and I especially hate their piano.
    The woman upstairs told the people outside to stop reveling.
** 1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XX, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 255:There was more dancing and singing up stairs, more wit and conversation below; all were at liberty, and all stayed late; and all talked so much of the happiness they had enjoyed, that Lady Anne felt herself exceedingly tempted to give another party before the season finally closed.
** 1891, Thomas Hardy, chapter IV, in Tess of the d’Urbervilles: A Pure Woman Faithfully Presented […], volume I, London: James R[ipley] Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., […], →OCLC, phase the first (The Maiden), pages 40–41:In a large bedroom upstairs, the window of which was thickly curtained with a great woollen shawl lately discarded by the landlady, Mrs. Rolliver, were gathered on this evening nearly a dozen persons, all seeking vinous bliss; […]
** 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)
    Marsha, let’s go upstairs!
       Audio (US):(file)
** 2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 68:On arrival at Birmingham New Street, I make my way upstairs to the mezzanine to get shots of an almost deserted concourse, polka-dotted with social distancing circles like some strange board-game.
* (informal) In the brain or mind.
    After Joe did a hula dance on the kitchen table, his friends wondered if he didn’t have a lot going on upstairs.
* (informal) In heaven, especially with regard to where a deity might be found.

#### Antonyms

* downstairs

#### Derived terms

* boot upstairs
* check upstairs
* go upstairs
* kick upstairs
* Man Upstairs

#### Translations
### Noun

upstairs (plural upstairs)
* An upper storey.
* (slang, euphemistic) A woman's breasts.