up
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: enpr: ŭp
ipa: /ʌp/
ipa: [ɐʔp]
ipa: [ʊp]
enpr: ŭp
ipa: /ʌp/
ipa: [ʌp̚]
note: Ottawa Valley
ipa: [ʌp]
note: Ottawa Valley
ipa: [ʊp]
ipa: /ɐp/
rhymes: -ʌp
Forms: form: ups
form: upping
form: upped
form: upped
Etymology: 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”).
Senses: examples: text: We upped anchor and sailed away.
glosses: To physically raise or lift.
examples: text: If we up the volume, we may be able to hear what he says.
text: As usual, they've upped the prices for Valentine's Day.
text: 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
ref: 2008, Randy Wayne White, Black Widow, page 181:
text: 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.
ref: 2011 December 10, Marc Higginson, “Bolton 1 - 2 Aston Villa”, in BBC Sport:
text: It says that while European countries upped their subsidies by 6% between 2018-20, the growth in business was only 0.45%.
ref: 2023 November 29, “Network News: European services 'stifled by subsidies', says ALLRAIL”, in RAIL, number 997, page 21:
glosses: To increase the level or amount of.
examples: text: It wasn’t long before they upped him to Vice President.
text: 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
ref: 1940, Jessica Mitford, Peter Y. Sussman, Decca: The Letters of Jessica Mitford, published 2010, page 64:
text: "Ryker's a--" He swallowed. "A cop. Used to work Sleeve Theft, then they upped him to the Organic Damage Division.
ref: 2003, Richard K. Morgan, Altered Carbon, page 136:
text: (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
ref: 2005, Larry Brody, Turning Points in Television, page 70:
glosses: To promote.
examples: text: She was sitting there quietly, then all of a sudden she upped and left.
text: He just upped and quit.
text: He upped and punched that guy.
text: 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.'
ref: 1895, “Waltzing Matilda”, Banjo Paterson (lyrics):
text: And she didn't leave a letter, she just upped and ran away
ref: 1991, Michael Jackson, “Who Is It”:
glosses: To rise to a standing position; hence, by extension, to act suddenly; see also up and.
raw_tags: with another verb
examples: text: "Will ye up, lass, and ride behind me?".
ref: 1863, Charles Kingsley, The Water Babies, page 10:
glosses: To ascend; to climb up.
examples: text: 100 new apps and games have just been upped.
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: To upload.
Derived terms: sense: terms derived from up (verb)
word: up and
sense: terms derived from up (verb)
word: up and go
sense: terms derived from up (verb)
word: up and leave
sense: terms derived from up (verb)
word: up sticks
sense: terms derived from up (verb)
word: up the ante
sense: terms derived from up (verb)
word: up the game