adverb
up
uhp
adverb
1
Toward or in a higher position; away from the ground.
"She looked up at the tall building."
"Prices have gone up again this year."
preposition
1
Toward the top, source, or far end of something.
"They walked up the hill."
"The boat sailed up the river."
adjective
1
Out of bed and active; awake.
"Is anyone up yet? It's almost noon."
2
Working properly; functioning, especially of a computer system.
"The website is finally back up after the outage."
3
In a cheerful or positive mood.
"She's been feeling really up since she got the good news."
verb
1
To increase the amount or level of something.
"The company decided to up its offer to close the deal."
noun
1
A good, positive period or situation.
"Every relationship has its ups and downs."
How to Use Up
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA tiny word with dozens of uses, but at its core it means higher, more, active, or working — the opposite of down.
Common mistake
Watch for phrasal verbs where "up" changes the meaning entirely (give up, look up, mess up) — these need to be learned as whole units, not word-by-word.
Common pairings
up and running
ups and downs
up for it
Word Forms
upped past tense, ups plural, ups singular
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She looked _____ at the tall building.
Etymology
From Old English upp, up, from Proto-Germanic *upp — one of the oldest and most basic words in the language, related to "over" and "above."