Ŭp1, adv.
[A-S. up, upp, uppe, O. Sax. up, Icel. upp, Sw. upp, up, Dan., Fries., & D. op, Goth. iup, O. H. Ger. uf, N. H. Ger. auf, allied to O. H. Ger. oba, N. H. Ger. ob.]
Sense 1. Aloft; on high; in a direction contrary to that of gravity; toward a higher place; in a higher position; above; — the opposite of down.
But up or down. By centric or eccentric hard to tell. Milton.
Sense 2. Hence, in many derived uses; as, (a.) From a lower to a higher position, literally or figuratively; as, from a recumbent or sitting position; from toward the bottom of an ascent, or the mouth of a river; from a dependent or inferior condition; from concealment; from younger age; from a quiet state, and the like; — used with verbs of motion expressed or implied.
But they presumed to go up unto the hill-top. Num. xv. 44. I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up. Ps. lxxxviii. 15. Up rose the sun, and up rose Emily. Dryden. Grief and passion are like floods raised in little brooks by a sudden rain; they are quickly up. Dryden. We have wrought ourselves up to this degree of Christian indifference. Atterbury.
(b.) In a higher place or position, literally or figuratively; in the state of having arisen; in a condition of elevation, prominence, advance, proficiency, excitement, insurrection, and the like; — used with verbs of rest, situation, condition, and the like.
Those that were up kept others low. Spenser. Helen was not 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. A general whisper ran among the country people, that Sir Roger was up. Addison.
(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 one's 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, and the like.
Up is used elliptically for get up, expressing a command or exhortation. “Up, let us be going.” Judges xix. 28.
It is all up with him, it is all over with him; he is lost. — The time is up, the allotted time is past; the appointed moment is come. — To blow up. (a.) To inflate; to distend. (b.) To destroy by an explosion from beneath. (c.) To reprove angrily; to scold. [Colloq. and low.] — To come up with, to reach in following; to overtake. — To draw up, to arrange in due order; to put in proper form. — To grow up, to grow to maturity. — Up to snuff, experienced; alert and knowing; not to be imposed upon. [Colloq.] — Up and down, from one place, state, or position, to another; backward and forward.