up

1 of 6

adverb

1
a(1)
: in or into a higher position or level
especially : away from the center of the earth
(2)
: from beneath the ground or water to the surface
(3)
: from below the horizon
(5)
: in or into an upright position
sit up
especially : out of bed
b
: upward from the ground or surface
pull up a daisy
c
: so as to expose a particular surface
2
: with greater intensity
speak up
3
a
: in or into a better or more advanced state
b
: at an end
your time is up
c
: in or into a state of greater intensity or excitement
d
: to or at a greater speed, rate, or amount
prices went up
e
: in a continual sequence : in continuance from a point or to a point
from third grade up
at prices of $10 and up
up until now
4
a(1)
: into existence, evidence, prominence, or prevalence
(2)
: into operation or practical form
b
: into consideration or attention
bring up for discussion
5
: into possession or custody
6
a
: entirely, completely
button up your coat
b
used as an intensifier
clean up the house
7
: in or into storage : by
lay up supplies
8
a
: so as to arrive or approach
b
: in a direction conventionally the opposite of down:
(1)
: to windward
(2)
(3)
: to or at the top
(4)
: to or at the rear of a theatrical stage
9
: in or into parts
10
: to a stop
usually used with draw, bring, fetch, or pull
11
: for each side
the score is 15 up

up

2 of 6

adjective

1
a
: risen above the horizon
the sun is up
b
c
: being out of bed
d
: relatively high
the river is up
was well up in her class
e
: being in a raised position : lifted
windows are up
f
: being in a state of completion : constructed, built
g
: having the face upward
h
: mounted on a horse
a new jockey up
i
: grown above a surface
the corn is up
j(1)
: moving, inclining, or directed upward
the up escalator
(2)
: bound in a direction regarded as up
2
a(1)
: marked by agitation, excitement, or activity
(2)
: positive or upbeat in mood or demeanor
b
: being above a former or normal level (as of quantity or intensity)
attendance is up
the wind is up
c
: exerting enough power (as for operation)
sail when steam is up
d
: ready
specifically : highly prepared
e
: going on : taking place
find out what is up
3
a
: risen from a lower position
men up from the ranks
b
: being at the same level or point
did not feel up to par
c(1)
: well informed : abreast
up on the news
(2)
: being on schedule
up on his homework
d
: being ahead of one's opponent
4
a
: presented for or undergoing consideration
contract up for negotiation
also : charged before a court
up for robbery
b
: being the one whose turn it is
you're up next

up

3 of 6

preposition

1
a
used as a function word to indicate motion to or toward or situation at a higher point of
went up the stairs
b
: up into or in the
was hid away up garretMark Twain
2
a
: in a direction regarded as being toward or near the upper end or part of
lives a few miles up the coast
walked up the street
b
: toward or near a point closer to the source or beginning of
sail up the river
3
: in the direction opposite to
sailed up the wind

up

4 of 6

noun

1
: one in a high or advantageous position
2
: an upward slope
3
: a period or state of prosperity or success
4
5
: a fundamental quark that has an electric charge of +2/3 and that is one of the constituents of a nucleon

up

5 of 6

verb

upped ˈəpt How to pronounce up (audio) or in intransitive verb sense 2 up; upped; upping; ups or in intransitive verb sense 2 up

intransitive verb

1
a
: to rise from a lying or sitting position
b
: to move upward : ascend
2
used with and and another verb to indicate that the action of the following verb was either surprisingly or abruptly initiated
he up and quit his job

transitive verb

1
: raise, lift
2
a
: to advance to a higher level:
(1)

UP

6 of 6

abbreviation

Upper Peninsula (of Michigan)
Phrases
up against
: confronted with : face-to-face with
the problem we are up against
up to
1
: capable of performing or dealing with
feels up to the task
2
: engaged in
what is he up to
3
: being the responsibility of
it's up to me

Examples of up in a Sentence

Adverb The land rises up from the valley. She stood beneath the window and called up to her friend. Please pick your clothes up off the floor. We watched the sun come up. He held up his hand. We stored the boxes up in the attic. She stuck a notice up on the wall. What's going on up there? He looked up at the stars. The cards were on the table facing up. Adjective The candy is up on the top shelf. The window is already up. Your package is up at the front desk. We were up near the stage. Are the kids up yet? We are up every morning at six. I was up all night studying for the test. Gas prices are up again. Preposition He climbed up the ladder. She had to walk her bike up the hill. The bathroom is up the stairs. Go up the street and turn left. We walked up the street to meet them. They live just up the block from us. I paddled the canoe up the river. The ship sailed up the coast. Her office is all the way up the hall on the right. He paced up and down the hall, waiting for news about his wife's operation. Verb climbing fuel prices have forced the delivery company to up its prices the road constantly ups and downs as it makes its way over the hills
Recent Examples on the Web
Adverb
Costs for housing and gasoline were up, with those categories contributing over 60 percent of the overall month-to-month increase. Rachel Siegel, Washington Post, 12 Mar. 2024 On the evening of December 1, 2022, Walker was up late, on his phone, scrolling through Instagram when a pretty girl who seemed to share some of the same contacts appeared in his message feed. Frank H. McCourt Jr., Fortune, 12 Mar. 2024 The company had 2,013 full-time employees as of the end of 2023, up from 1,942 a year earlier. Todd Spangler, Variety, 11 Mar. 2024 The place was at the same time minimally furnished and maximally full up. Joseph O’Neill, The New Yorker, 11 Mar. 2024 Prior to this, when THR arrived, a source commented on how smooth the day had been up into that point. Christy Piña, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Mar. 2024 That comes as, yet again, a handful of mega-cap tech stocks accounted for much of the strong performance; Nvidia (up 29% this month), Meta (up 25%) and Amazon (up 12%) added $928 billion in market capitalization in February alone. Derek Saul, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024 While the stock rally has stalled somewhat this week, the S&P 500 is on pace to gain about 4.6% in February and is up about 6.3% for the year after notching several record highs. Krystal Hur, CNN, 29 Feb. 2024 Grocery Dive, the industry tracker, reported that online grocery sales in 2023 reached $8.1 billion in November, up 5.2% compared to the same time in 2022. Howard Cohen, Miami Herald, 29 Feb. 2024
Adjective
Again, the effect was strongest when the positive words coincided with the up phase of slow oscillations. Ingrid Wickelgren, Scientific American, 20 Feb. 2024 Following clarifying guidance issued by the Wisconsin Elections Commission, the Milwaukee clerk issued an up The clerks’s guidance was in reference to requesting absentee ballots and photo IDs. Journal Sentinel, 26 Jan. 2024 The difference between how volatile the S&P 500 is on up days versus down days is the widest it's been in about 20 years, wrote Stuart Kaiser, head of U.S. equity trading strategy at Citi, in a note to clients this week. Gunjan Banerji, WSJ, 21 Nov. 2023 Before contact with the host cell, the spike shifts from a down to an up conformation, allowing binding and enabling infection of the cell. William A. Haseltine, Forbes, 18 Apr. 2023 Note the up move in rates on Friday (May 5) (gold) after the release of the payroll report vs. the Wednesday (May 3) (gray) levels. Robert Barone, Forbes, 6 May 2023 Texas Tech runs an up tempo offense that led the country in plays last season, has a 6-foot-5 vertical threat, speedy slot receiver and 6-foot-9 tight end. oregonlive, 8 Sep. 2023 The new rules force council members into an up or down vote. Joseph D. Bryant | Jbryant@al.com, al, 27 June 2023 Although each stock reflects many factors and different conditions, the lack of buying interest on an up day for each of the major indexes is troubling. John Navin, Forbes, 17 July 2023
Preposition
Over 20 inches could pile up in the far western portion of the metro area, close to the Front Range foothills. Mary Gilbert, CNN, 14 Mar. 2024 In addition to the shortage, compounded — altered or mixed — versions of these drugs have also started to pop up online. Bruce Gil, Quartz, 14 Mar. 2024 The plastic production was then ramped up exponentially during World War II. Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 14 Mar. 2024 Four errors by the Bears didn’t help the visitors either as the Wildcats piled up runs. Joseph Dycus, The Mercury News, 14 Mar. 2024 The drifts have piled up, from Tahoe to the Tehachapis. Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 14 Mar. 2024 Timberlake followed it up with another free concert at Irving Plaza in New York City on Jan. 31. John Lonsdale, Rolling Stone, 14 Mar. 2024 Owning your own business is tough, and starting up a new business is even harder. Stephen Deusner, SPIN, 14 Mar. 2024 The state agency forcing the city into action is the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, which has recently ramped up pressure on cities across the region to move encampments out of sensitive waterways that often empty into the ocean. Ethan Varian, The Mercury News, 2 Mar. 2024
Verb
Cybersecurity Cybercriminals are upping their game. Expert Panel®, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024 The above-normal growth upped the risk of wildfires during what is considered Texas’ dormant season for grasses, which typically runs through winter to around mid-April. Evan Bush, NBC News, 29 Feb. 2024 The bill would up those amounts to as much as $1,800 on last year’s taxes, which are due in April, $1,900 this year and the maximum credit next year. David Lightman, Sacramento Bee, 26 Feb. 2024 Earlier this month, Wendy’s upped their breakfast game by partnering with Cinnabon on the sweet morning treats. Antonia Debianchi, Peoplemag, 26 Feb. 2024 The Southeastern Conference upped its spending by more than $200,000. Ben Nuckols, Fortune, 24 Feb. 2024 The newly open Western Park in the heart of Ellis serves up all the right spaces to up your game. Bang Advertising Staff and Correspondents, The Mercury News, 23 Feb. 2024 Konecny upped his club-leading total to 50 points with an assist on the play. Aaron Bracy, USA TODAY, 13 Feb. 2024 The retailer also upped its dividend payout by 9% to a record $2.49 per share for its upcoming fiscal year, boosting its annual dividend yield to 1.5%, higher than all but Broadcom, JPMorgan Chase and Exxon Mobil among the 16 companies on the S&P 500 valued at over $400 billion. Derek Saul, Forbes, 20 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word '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

Etymology

Adverb

partly from Middle English up upward, from Old English ūp; partly from Middle English uppe on high, from Old English; both akin to Old High German ūf up and probably to Latin sub under, Greek hypo under, hyper over — more at over

First Known Use

Adverb

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a(1)

Adjective

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Preposition

1509, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Noun

1536, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1643, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of up was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near up

Cite this Entry

“Up.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/up. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

up

1 of 5 adverb
1
a
: in or to a higher position or level
especially : away from the center of the earth
held up my hand
b
: from beneath a surface (as ground or water)
pulling up weeds
c
: from below the horizon
watched the moon come up
d
: in or into an upright position
stand up
e
: out of bed
stayed up late
2
: with greater force
speak up
3
a
: in or into a better or more advanced state
worked our way up in the world
b
: at an end
our time was up
c
: in or into a state of greater activity
stir up a fire
d
: to or at a greater rate, speed, or amount
prices went up
4
a
: into existence, evidence, or knowledge
the missing ring turned up
b
: into consideration
brought the matter up
5
: into possession or control
gave himself up
6
: entirely, completely
eat it up
the house burned up
7
: in or into storage
lay up supplies
put our boat up for the winter
8
: so as to arrive or approach
came up the drive
9
: in or into parts
tear up paper
10
: to a stop
pull up
drew up at the curb
11
: for each side
score was 15 up

up

2 of 5 adjective
1
a
: risen above the horizon or ground
the sun was up
b
: being out of bed
c
: higher than usual
the river is up
prices are up
d
: raised so as to be open : lifted
windows are up
e
: put together : built
the house is up
f
: grown above a surface
the corn is up
g
: moving or going upward
the up escalator
2
a
: being on one's feet and busy
was eager to be up and doing
b
: well prepared
the team was up for the game
c
: going on : taking place
find out what is up
3
: well informed
always up on the news
4
: being ahead of an opponent
was three games up in the series
5
a
: presented for or under consideration
up for reelection
b
: charged before a court
was up for robbery
c
: being the one whose turn it is
you're up next

up

3 of 5 preposition
(ˌ)əp,
ˈəp
1
: to, toward, or at a higher point of
up the hill
2
a
: toward the beginning of
going up the river
b
: toward the northern or upper end or part of
sailed up the coast
3
: along the course of
walking up the street

up

4 of 5 noun
ˈəp
1
: an upward course or slope
2
: a period or state of success
had had my ups and downs

up

5 of 5 verb
upped or in sense 1 up; upped; upping; ups or in sense 1 up
1
: to act suddenly or surprisingly
up and left town
2
: to rise from a lying or sitting position
3
: to move or cause to move upward : ascend, raise
upped the prices

Medical Definition

UP

abbreviation

More from Merriam-Webster on up

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!