upend

verb

up·​end ˌəp-ˈend 

upended; upending; upends

transitive verb

1

: to set or stand on end

also : overturn sense 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

Synonyms

• defeat
• overcome
• master
• take
• beat
• worst
• conquer
• get
• best
• stop

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 on the Web

Those journalists took stock of their communities, chronicling the recovery and talking to people whose lives and livelihoods were upended. —Phaedra Trethan, USA Today, 27 Sep. 2025

However, Ruth and Boaz's relationship gets tested when her past follows her and threatens to upend her new, simple life. —Caroline Blair, PEOPLE, 26 Sep. 2025

The oil and gas outsiders at Venture Global are doing so by upending project design norms, upsetting the Big Oil hierarchy, and dominating the nascent gas export industry. —Jordan Blum, Fortune, 25 Sep. 2025

Newsom has been under pressure in recent years to adopt AI guardrails by advocates worried about the technology’s impact on unemployment by automating jobs and upending creative and media industries via its ability to generate new pictures, audio and other media using existing data. —Lia Russell, Sacbee.com, 25 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1823, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1

Rhymes for upend

• amend
• append
• ascend
• attend
• backend
• befriend
• boyfriend
• commend
• compend
• contend
• defend
• depend

Kids Definition

upend

verb

up·​end ˌə-ˈpend 

: to set, stand, or rise on end