up

adv. [ AS. up, upp, ūp; akin to OFries. up, op, D. op, OS. ūp, OHG. ūf, G. auf, Icel. & Sw. upp, Dan. op, Goth. iup, and probably to E. over. See Over. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

But up or down,
By center or eccentric, hard to tell. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence, in many derived uses, specifically: -- [ 1913 Webster ]

(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. [ 1913 Webster ]

But they presumed to go up unto the hilltop. Num. xiv. 44. [ 1913 Webster ]

I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up. Ps. lxxxviii. 15. [ 1913 Webster ]

Up rose the sun, and up rose Emelye. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

We have wrought ourselves up into this degree of Christian indifference. Atterbury. [ 1913 Webster ]

(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. [ 1913 Webster ]

And when the sun was up, they were scorched. Matt. xiii. 6. [ 1913 Webster ]

Those that were up themselves kept others low. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

Helen was up -- was she? Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

Rebels there are up,
And put the Englishmen unto the sword. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Thou hast fired me; my soul's up in arms. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

Grief and passion are like floods raised in little brooks by a sudden rain; they are quickly up. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

A general whisper ran among the country people, that Sir Roger was up. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate. Longfellow. [ 1913 Webster ]

(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. [ 1913 Webster ]

As a boar was whetting his teeth, up comes a fox to him. L'Estrange. [ 1913 Webster ]

(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. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Some phrases of this kind are now obsolete; as, to spend up (Prov. xxi. 20); to kill up (B. Jonson). [ 1913 Webster ]

(e) Aside, so as not to be in use; as, to lay up riches; put up your weapons. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ Up is used elliptically for get up, rouse up, etc., expressing a command or exhortation. “Up, and let us be going.” Judg. xix. 28. [ 1913 Webster ]

Up, up, my friend! and quit your books,
Or surely you 'll grow double. Wordsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

(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 ] [ 1913 Webster ]