upstream

adverb or adjective

up·​stream ˈəp-ˈstrēm 

1

: in the direction opposite to the flow of a stream

2

: in or to a position within the production stream closer to manufacturing processes

make most of its money upstream, selling cheap crude … to refineries

—John Quirt

3

biochemistry : toward the beginning of a series of cellular processes : preceding a linked molecular event occurring in a sequence

Many signaling pathways possess intrinsic negative feedback by which a downstream event in a pathway turns off an upstream event.

—Harvey Lodish et al.

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Both rivers are dammed upstream, in part for flood control, but the reservoirs that hold back the water are at near capacity and letting flows through. —Kurtis Alexander, San Francisco Chronicle, 20 Mar. 2023

The Monticello plant is about 35 miles (55 kilometers) northwest of Minneapolis, upstream from the city on the Mississippi River. —Michael Phillis, Fortune, 18 Mar. 2023

The Monticello plant is about 35 miles northwest of Minneapolis, upstream from the city on the Mississippi River. —CBS News, 17 Mar. 2023

Because the producer-centric index captures price shifts upstream of the consumer, it’s sometimes looked to as a potential leading indicator of how prices may eventually land at the store level. —Nicole Goodkind, CNN, 15 Mar. 2023

The agent who spoke to me likened their counterintelligence operation to swimming upstream. —Yudhijit Bhattacharjee, New York Times, 7 Mar. 2023

So we’re heartened by an emerging trend to go upstream of the shortage to focus on attracting potential STEM teachers earlier, in part by recruiting potential teachers with nontraditional backgrounds. —Talia Milgrom-elcott, Forbes, 26 Jan. 2023

Suntha said this $14 million investment goes beyond the primary goal of hospitals — acute care — and actually goes upstream to address issues that can affect a person’s health. —Giacomo Bologna, Baltimore Sun, 15 Sep. 2022

The Shawano Paper Mill Dam, built in 1892, prevents sturgeon from going further upstream. —Mark Hoffman, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 29 Apr. 2022

See More

Word History

First Known Use

1681, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

upstream

adverb or adjective

up·​stream ˈəp-ˈstrēm 

: at or toward the beginning of a stream : against the current

salmon swimming upstream

Medical Definition

upstream

adverb or adjective

up·​stream ˈəp-ˈstrēm 

1

: in a direction along a molecule of DNA or RNA opposite to that in which transcription and translation take place and toward the end having a phosphate group attached to the position labeled 5′ in the terminal nucleotide

… stretches of DNA upstream of genes—are known as promoters.

—Matt Ridley, Time

compare downstream sense 1

2

: toward the beginning of series of cellular processes : preceding a linked molecular event occurring in a sequence

It's equally important to focus on additional mechanisms that are upstream of amyloid formation and mechanisms downstream that are involved in the actual degenerative processes within neurons.

—Marc Tessier-Lavigne, quoted in Science