upriver

adverb or adjective

up·​riv·​er ˈəp-ˈri-vər How to pronounce upriver (audio)
: toward or at a point nearer the source of a river

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web On Monday, floodwaters spilled onto Wisconsin Hwy. 35 and into downtown Fountain City, about 45 minutes upriver from La Crosse on the scenic Great River Road. Madeline Heim And Brittney J. Miller, Journal Sentinel, 27 Apr. 2023 Not far upriver, a couple of young men from the rival village sat in a canoe in the shade of a tree. Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker, 3 Apr. 2023 That tripped a circuit breaker on a power pole on Highway 138 and knocked out power to customers upriver, including those on Susan Creek Road and Star Mountain Lane, according to utility operations data cited in court filings. oregonlive, 5 Mar. 2023 Oregon Public Broadcasting and ProPublica examined the yearly survival of eight Columbia River Basin hatchery populations of vulnerable salmon and steelhead trout, detected at a federal dam on their way out to sea as juveniles and on their way back upriver as adults. ProPublica, 24 May 2022 On weekend mornings, the brothers like to fly their families upriver to Poughkeepsie, for breakfast. Adam Iscoe, The New Yorker, 6 Mar. 2023 Some monitor the ice conditions upriver, while others keep tabs on the ice measurements that Ice Classic staff post online. Erin Donaghue, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 Feb. 2023 Still, Ukraine’s nuclear regulator Monday ordered an urgent review of the safety risks upriver at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant if the dam were to be damaged. Marc Santora And Carly Olson, BostonGlobe.com, 7 Nov. 2022 Thousands of anglers, customers of guides, and those in their own or friends’ boats, moved upriver with the closure to fish for a fall chinook run now believed to be nearly twice its projection. oregonlive, 13 Sep. 2022 See More

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

1774, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of upriver was in 1774

Dictionary Entries Near upriver

Cite this Entry

“Upriver.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/upriver. Accessed 6 Jun. 2023.

Kids Definition

upriver

adverb or adjective
up·​riv·​er ˈəp-ˈriv-ər How to pronounce upriver (audio)
: toward or at a point nearer the start of a river
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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