upper — English Dictionary

upper
Pronunciations (5)
  • /ˈʌpə/
    Pronunciation notes
    • Received-Pronunciation
  • /ˈʌpɚ/
    Pronunciation notes
    • General-American
  • /ˈʊpə/
    Pronunciation notes
    • Northern-England
  • ˈʌpə
    Pronunciation notes
    • GB
  • ˈʌpɚ
    Pronunciation notes
    • US

Adjective

  1. At a higher physical position, level, rank or order.

  2. Situated on higher ground, further inland, more upstream, or more northerly.

  3. Younger, more recent.

    Usage
    • of strata or geological time periods
  4. Of or pertaining to a secondary school.

Noun

  1. A stimulant, such as amphetamine, that increases energy and decreases appetite.

    Antonyms
    Examples
    More examples (2)

    Eye Girl is very moody. She is always zooted up on some really foul combination of uppers and downers and Rollerblading. Her bouts of Rollerblading seem to coincide with fights with Eye Guy.

    Say, for example, a person starts with the use of a downer that reduces any anxiety and produces a sense of relaxation. When their energy levels drop, they take a stimulant in order to continue participating in the party or another event. This creates a cycle that could lead to significant drug use and drastically increases the risk of overdose or death. It is critical to know which drugs are uppers and downers to avoid this combination.

  2. A stimulant, such as amphetamine, that increases energy and decreases appetite. Anything that cheers one up.

    Examples
    More examples (1)

    1977-1980, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure Patrick was a cabbie & a dispatcher at Yellow Cab & when we got to the church where the [funeral] services were being held, the cabbies came out in force for Pat & there were at least 30 cabs pulling into the church parking lot. It was a real upper for a lot of us.

  3. The upper portion of something.

    Examples
    More examples (1)

    The slewing ring is basically a large bearing upon which the upper is mounted. The outer race of the slewing ring is bolted to the upper, and the inner race is bolted to the car-body.

    These lines, GH and PC, are cut when the outline of the upper is cut out.

  4. The upper portion of something. The piece of material that forms the top part of a shoe or boot above the sole.

    Examples

    Holonyms: shoe, boot

    genuine leather upper / balance manmade [label on a shoe]

    More examples (1)

    The uppers of his patent-leather shoes were hidden by fawn spats.

  5. The upper portion of something. The Y-shaped strap on flip-flops.

  6. Someone with higher social standing

    Examples

    Thus a vicious circle is established: the uppers offer participation, and the lowers, feeling persecuted, withdraw.

  7. Someone with higher social standing A senior student.

    Examples

    Each Upper had his private Fag; but general fagdom consisted of obedience to the demand of every Upper, no matter in whose House he happened to be.

    More examples (1)

    It is advisable, for example, to learn the words to the school loyalty and to “Fair Harvard” in the event that you are “asked” to give an impromptu “concert” in the Yard for the benefit of the Uppers.

  8. That which is higher, contrasted with the lower.

    Examples

    Next, take up slack equally on the two uppers until they are snug.

    During the seventh week, the limbs also rotate laterally in the uppers and medially in the lowers.

    More examples (1)

    In this compact middle level between the uppers and the lowers, I actually had a counter in front of me, where food or drink could be safely planted, without fear of knocking over onto any patrons sitting in the seats below me.

  9. That which is higher, contrasted with the lower. A tooth in the upper jaw.

    Examples
    More examples (2)

    In the lingualized type of occlusion, contact of the lingual cusps of the uppers against the semianatomic teeth on the lowers will be seen in lateral, protrusive, and eccentric movements.

    These reentrant folds, especially those on the buccal side of the uppers and the lingual side of the lowers, are quickly isolated by wear into infundibula within lakes of dentin.

    Periodically check the bite with the uppers and lowers to ensure that your actor's mouth will close correctly.

    More examples (1)

    Considering the badly decayed condition of the Chief's other teeth, I recommended removal of what remained of the uppers, followed by a “full plate” after healing.

  10. That which is higher, contrasted with the lower. A denture or retainer for the teeth in the upper jaw.

    Examples
    More examples (1)

    Treatment was continued until November, 1909, when a retainer was placed in position in the lower, consisting of bands round the lower first molars and a wire passing lingually round all the teeth. The upper was retained by means of a plate with wires wires passing behind the upper first molars and round in front of all the teeth.

    The lower (according to the patient) was perfect, but the upper was bad, and the dentist was going to make the upper again.

    The upper was retained with a Hawley bite plane; the lip bumper was continued for an additional 18 months.

  11. That which is higher, contrasted with the lower. An upper berth or bunk.

    Examples
    More examples (2)

    The Railroad Company further averred that it operated sleeping cars over its system of more than 7,000 miles of interstate roads, and that the Interstate Commerce Commission had prescribed rates for each of said sleeping car units on trains running to and from the state of Wisconsin. The rate fixed for the upper was 80 per cent. of the charge for the use of the lower; the price for the whole section beting the sum of the two rates.

    But trains have changed. Gone are the uppers and lowers, partitions and cranks, and the green velour; only the porter remains, the same man, I think, a black man with palms the color of shrimp and a neck swollen with dislike.

    Twelve lowers and twelve uppers and three beds in the drawing rooms.

    More examples (1)

    Of course I naturally I asked why, but all the satisfaction I got for the time being was that the upper was good enough for me, and that it was a pretty good place in which to sleep, anyway.

    The uppers were reached by comfortably safe steps with handrails and slip proof coatings.

  12. A spiritual passageway through which consciousness can reach a higher dimension.

    Examples

    The 'upper' is one of nine apertures through which consciousness can leave the body at death (utkrantih).

    More examples (2)

    When the Tao Te Ching says: “In thought, you can see the cavity,” it is referring to what the Triplex Unity describes as “When the upper is closed, we call it existence; when the lower is closed, we call it nothingness.”

    It is said in Tibetan culture, in order to understand the upper, it is necessary to understand the lower first. Once, the lower is understood, the upper is just an introductory.

Verb

  1. To fix an upper onto a shoe.

    Usage
    • Rare
    Examples
    More examples (1)

    No, that is where the job rating comes in. For example, the job of uppering the shoe, which is placing the gum upper on the last, carries a much higher rate than that of wiping the soapstone off the upper.

  2. To raise.

    Usage
    • nonstandard
    Examples

    Then, when a galaxy is forming and gets its relatively small black hole, it becomes responsible for uppering the amount of dark matter closer to the centre

Adjective

  1. the topmost one of two; upper

    Antonyms
  2. higher in place or position

    Examples

    the upper bunk

    in the upper center of the picture

    More examples (1)

    the upper stories

  3. superior in rank or accomplishment

    Examples

    the upper half of the class

Noun

  1. the higher of two berths

    Synonyms
  2. piece of leather or synthetic material that forms the part of a shoe or boot above the sole that encases the foot

    Broader terms
    Examples

    Uppers come in many styles

  3. a central nervous system stimulant that increases energy and decreases appetite; used to treat narcolepsy and some forms of depression

Word forms
uppermoreuppermostuppersuppersupperinguppereduppered

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