upend

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verb up·end \ ˌəp-ˈend \

Definition of upend

transitive verb

1 :to set or stand on end; also :overturn 1

2 a :to affect to the point of being upset or flurried

a … literary shocker, designed to upend the credulous matrons
—Wolcott Gibbs

b :defeat, beat

intransitive verb

:to rise on an end

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Examples of upend in a Sentence

He upended the bicycle to fix its flat tire.
I upended the bucket to use as a stool.
The security inspector upended my bag and dumped everything out.
A giant wave upended the surfers.
The midfielder was upended before he got the ball.

Recent Examples of upend from the Web

Tobacco families battle for dominance as the invention of the mechanized cigarette rolling machine sets to upend the traditional hand-rolling method.

— The Courier-Journal, "45+ fun things to do in Louisville July 20-26," 19 July 2017
The governor signed a new budget at 1:03 a.m. on Tuesday, but not before residents saw state business temporarily upended.

— jess bidgood, julie bosman and alexander burns, New York Times, "Caught in Budget Tugs of War, States Teeter on the Brink," 3 July 2017
In a sense, the Gulf monarchies have worried about their long-term stability ever since late 2010, when a series of popular uprisings started upending autocratic regimes across the Middle East and North Africa.

— eric trager, The Atlantic, "The Muslim Brotherhood Is the Root of the Qatar Crisis," 2 July 2017
Turnbull’s switch illustrates how politics around the world are being upended by Trump’s election and the success of other anti-elite politicians.

— a. odysseus patrick, Washington Post, "Australia’s leader mocked Trump but borrows from his playbook," 2 July 2017
From Yves Saint Laurent popularizing the trouser for women with his Le Smoking to Keith Richards upending menswear norms by pilfering from girlfriend Anita Pallenberg's closet, fashion during the end of the '60s was more revolution than evolution.

— scott christian, Esquire, "50 Years Later, 'Flower Power' Still Looks Pretty Damn Good," 29 June 2017
Balance Sheet Unicaja’s share sale is another milestone in the reorganization of a sector upended by a property bust that resulted in a raft of bailouts five years ago.

— esteban duarte, Bloomberg.com, "Spain Unicaja Raises $783 Million in IPO to Repay State Aid," 28 June 2017
The company attributes the industry-wide weakness to a lack of exciting new options since Greek yogurt upended the market.

— candice choi, The Seattle Times, "After Greek and Icelandic, is French the next trendy yogurt?," 26 June 2017
For 20-odd hours you’d been fed a generic tale of revenge, and then suddenly Monolith decided to upend Tolkien’s whole universe and create a (paradoxical) second One Ring.

— hayden dingman, PCWorld, "Hands-on: Middle Earth: Shadow of War gets more creative with Tolkien's universe," 21 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'upend.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.