Up \Up\, adv. [AS. up, upp, ?p; akin to OFries. up, op, D. op,
OS. ?p, OHG. ?f, G. auf, Icel. ? Sw. upp, Dan. op, Goth. iup,
and probably to E. over. See Over.]
1. Aloft; on high; in a direction contrary to that of
gravity; toward or in a higher place or position; above;
-- the opposite of down.
But up or down, By center or eccentric, hard to
tell. --Milton.
2. Hence, in many derived uses, specifically: (a) From a lower to a higher position, literally or
figuratively; as, from a recumbent or sitting
position; from the mouth, toward the source, of a
river; from a dependent or inferior condition; from
concealment; from younger age; from a quiet state, or
the like; -- used with verbs of motion expressed or
implied.
But they presumed to go up unto the hilltop.
--Num. xiv.
44.
I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth
up. --Ps.
lxxxviii. 15.
Up rose the sun, and up rose Emelye. --Chaucer.
We have wrought ourselves up into this degree of
Christian indifference. --Atterbury. (b) In a higher place or position, literally or
figuratively; in the state of having arisen; in an
upright, or nearly upright, position; standing;
mounted on a horse; in a condition of elevation,
prominence, advance, proficiency, excitement,
insurrection, or the like; -- used with verbs of rest,
situation, condition, and the like; as, to be up on a
hill; the lid of the box was up; prices are up.
And when the sun was up, they were scorched.
--Matt. xiii.
6.
Those that were up themselves kept others low.
--Spenser.
Helen was up -- was she? --Shak.
Rebels there are up, And put the Englishmen unto
the sword. --Shak.
His name was up through all the adjoining
provinces, even to Italy and Rome; many desiring
to see who he was that could withstand so many
years the Roman puissance. --Milton.
Thou hast fired me; my soul's up in arms.
--Dryden.
Grief and passion are like floods raised in
little brooks by a sudden rain; they are quickly
up. --Dryden.
A general whisper ran among the country people,
that Sir Roger was up. --Addison.
Let us, then, be up and doing, With a heart for
any fate. --Longfellow. (c) To or in a position of equal advance or equality; not
short of, back of, less advanced than, away from, or
the like; -- usually followed by to or with; as, to be
up to the chin in water; to come up with one's
companions; to come up with the enemy; to live up to
engagements.
As a boar was whetting his teeth, up comes a fox
to him. --L'Estrange. (d) To or in a state of completion; completely; wholly;
quite; as, in the phrases to eat up; to drink up; to
burn up; to sum up; etc.; to shut up the eyes or the
mouth; to sew up a rent.
Note: Some phrases of this kind are now obsolete; as, to
spend up (--Prov. xxi. 20); to kill up (--B. Jonson). (e) Aside, so as not to be in use; as, to lay up riches;
put up your weapons.
Note: Up is used elliptically for get up, rouse up, etc.,
expressing a command or exhortation. ``Up, and let us
be going.'' --Judg. xix. 28.
Up, up, my friend! and quit your books, Or surely
you 'll grow double. --Wordsworth.
It is all up with him, it is all over with him; he is lost.
The time is up, the allotted time is past.
To be up in, to be informed about; to be versed in.
``Anxious that their sons should be well up in the
superstitions of two thousand years ago.'' --H. Spencer.
To be up to. (a) To be equal to, or prepared for; as, he is up to the
business, or the emergency. [Colloq.]
(b) To be engaged in; to purpose, with the idea of doing
ill or mischief; as, I don't know what he's up to.
[Colloq.]
To blow up. (a) To inflate; to distend. (b) To destroy by an explosion from beneath. (c) To explode; as, the boiler blew up. (d) To reprove angrily; to scold. [Slang]
To bring up. See under Bring, v. t.
To come up with. See under Come, v. i.
To cut up. See under Cut, v. t. & i.
To draw up. See under Draw, v. t.
To grow up, to grow to maturity.
Up anchor (Naut.), the order to man the windlass
preparatory to hauling up the anchor.
Up and down. (a) First up, and then down; from one state or position to
another. See under Down, adv.
Fortune . . . led him up and down. --Chaucer. (b) (Naut.) Vertical; perpendicular; -- said of the cable
when the anchor is under, or nearly under, the hawse
hole, and the cable is taut. --Totten.
Up helm (Naut.), the order given to move the tiller toward
the upper, or windward, side of a vessel.
Up to snuff. See under Snuff. [Slang]
What is up? What is going on? [Slang]
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) |