right side up

adverb

variants or less commonly right-side up or right-side-up
US : in such a way that the upper and lower parts are in their usual or principal position and not reversed
She flipped the card right side up to reveal the ace of diamonds.
Invert banana bread onto rack and turn right side up.Curtis Stone
… they turned the bottom plate upside-down and placed cherry tomatoes in the circular area in the center. … when an identical plate was placed right-side-up on top, the tomatoes were held nicely in place while sliced in half with a sharp knife.Lindsey Nair
When you look at an object through a lens, it appears upside down, so you need some way to put the image right side up before it reaches your eye. That's the job of the prism.David E. Petzal
… a word that can be read the same right-side up and upside down.Richard Morin
You can design a robot that, if you drop it upside down, can land right side up, but a cat can flip over and land right side up regardless of how it started …Jennifer Ouellette
right side up adjective
or right-side-up or less commonly right-side up
US
in a right side up position

Examples of right side up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Carefully hold a large tablespoon right side up, as level with the top of the beer as possible, making sure the tip of the spoon is touching the beer. Jeff Burkhart, The Mercury News, 18 Jan. 2024 The 82-year-old singer and subject of a new documentary sleeps in a tree, has come to terms with not being a reader and is more interested in upside down than right side up. Kathryn Shattuck, New York Times, 4 Nov. 2023 Remove baking sheet from freezer, and flip cupcakes right side up; use an offset spatula to smooth the surface of frosting. Antonia Debianchi, Peoplemag, 26 Oct. 2023 When it's finished baking, the cake gets inverted in one big flip so that the pineapple rounds end up topping the cake and displayed upside down—or right side up, depending on your point of view. Southern Living Editors, Southern Living, 21 June 2023 Carefully invert the cake onto a cooling rack, then flip it back right side up on another. Christianna Silva, Better Homes & Gardens, 10 Oct. 2023 Upside down, right side up; there's no wrong way to enjoy Pineapple Upside-Down Cake. Southern Living Test Kitchen, Southern Living, 17 July 2023 Located about 180 feet below the surface, lying right side up on a sandy seabed, the wreck’s visible parts were about 80 percent intact. Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 Sep. 2023 Lay front piece right side up on your work surface. Lacey Howard, Better Homes & Gardens, 2 Aug. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'right side up.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1827, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of right side up was in 1827

Dictionary Entries Near right side up

Cite this Entry

“Right side up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/right%20side%20up. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!