ups and downs

plural noun

|Updated on: 12 Jun 2018

Definition of ups and downs

: alternating rise and fall especially in fortune

Recent Examples of ups and downs from the Web

Baseball is a sport with a lot of ups and downs and that was an up day for me.

— john johnson, BostonGlobe.com, "Jake Farrell a force in Northeastern return," 8 June 2018
On a recent gray Saturday morning, 20 volunteers scurried up and down the stairs to a second-floor apartment in South Los Angeles.

— barbara thornburg, latimes.com, "A South L.A. apartment gets the celebrity treatment," 8 June 2018
But there were plenty of fascinating developments up and down the state.

— trapper byrne, San Francisco Chronicle, "Election day recap: A late-night surprise and striking results," 6 June 2018
Because of the strong anti-Trump fervor within the party, Democratic candidates have flooded races up and down the ballot in California.

— chris cillizza, CNN, "Today is the most important day of 2018 so far for Democrats' chances in the House," 5 June 2018
The game was a commercial failure but a steppingstone to Pong, a digital version of ping-pong in which players move blocky white paddles up and down the screen.

— harrison smith, Washington Post, "Ted Dabney, Atari co-founder whose engineering paved the way for Pong, dies at 81," 5 June 2018
De León embarked on a grueling retail politicking tour up and down California months before the primary, sometimes speaking to crowds of fewer than a dozen people.

— taryn luna, sacbee, "Number two spot in U.S. Senate race up for grabs," 5 June 2018
Meantime, the Warriors are loaded up and down the roster.

— paul daugherty, Cincinnati.com, "Paul Daugherty's Morning Line: You can't make the MLB Draft fun and Allegiant Air sucks," 4 June 2018
Its galvanizing front lights shine down on the crowd, who wave their arms up and down toward the vehicle.

— heran mamo, Billboard, "Kesha Stands With DREAMers in New Video for 'Hymn': Watch," 31 May 2018

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