[unseen] See: SIGHT UNSEEN.
[until all hours]{adv. phr.} Until very late at night. •/He is so anxious to pass his exams with flying colors that he stays up studying until all hours./
[until hell freezes over]{adv. phr.}, {slang} Forever, for an eternity. •/He can argue until hell freezes over; nobody will believe him./ Contrast: WHEN HELL FREEZES OVER.
[until the last gun is fired] See: TILL THE LAST GUN IS FIRED.
[unturned] See: LEAVE NO STONE UNTURNED.
[up against]{prep. phr.} Blocked or threatened by. •/When she applied to medical school, the black woman wondered whether she was up against barriers of sex and race prejudice./
[up against it]{adj. phr.}, {informal} Faced with a great difficulty or problem; badly in need. •/The Smith family is up against it because Mr. Smith cannot find a job./ •/You will be up against it if you don’t pass the test. You will probably fail arithmetic./ Compare: HARD UP, END OF ONE’S ROPE, BACK TO THE WALL(2).
[up and about] or [around] {adv. phr.} Recovered and able to move about; once again in good health after an illness. •/My sister was ill for several weeks, but is now up and about again./
[up and at them] 1. {adv. phr.} Actively engaged in a task as if doing combat. •/"You want to know whether he will make a diligent worker?" Dick asked. "Well, I can tell you that most of the time he is up and at them like no one else I know."/ 2. {v. phr.} To become aggressively engaged in doing something; (useable as a command). •/Come on, up and at them, you guys. We still have a lot of work to get done./
[up-and-coming]{adj. phr.} Bound toward success; upwardly mobile; progressive; ambitious. •/The newly elected state senator is an up-and-coming young politician who is expected to be highly successful in national politics in the future./
[up a stump]{adj. phr.}, {slang} Stumped; blocked; mixed up or confused in what you are trying to do. •/Jimmy knows how to add and subtract but fractions have him up a stump./
[up a tree]{adv.} or {adj. phr.} 1. Hunted or chased into a tree; treed. •/The dog drove the coon up a tree so the hunter could shoot him./ 2. {informal} in trouble; having problems; in a difficulty that it is hard to escape or think of a way out of. •/John’s father has him up a tree in the checker game./ Compare: UP THE CREEK.
[up for grabs]{adj. phr.}, {informal} Available for anyone to try to get; ready to be competed for; there for the taking. •/When the captain of the football team moved out of town, his place was up for grabs./
[up front(1)]{n.}, {slang}, {informal} The managerial section of a corporation or firm. •/Joe Catwallender finally made it (with the) up front./
[up front(2)]{adj.}, {slang}, {informal} Open, sincere, hiding nothing. •/Sue was completely up front about why she didn’t want to see him anymore./
[up in arms]{adj. phr.} 1. Equipped with guns or weapons and ready to fight. •/All of the colonies were up in arms against the Redcoats./ Syn.: IN ARMS. 2. Very angry and wanting to fight. •/Robert is up in arms because John said he was stupid./ •/The students were up in arms over the new rule against food in the dormitory./
[up in the air]{adj.} or {adv. phr.} 1. {informal} In great anger or excitement. •/My father went straight up in the air when he heard I damaged the car./ •/The Jones family are all up in the air because they are taking a trip around the world./ Compare: HIT THE CEILING, BLOW A FUSE. 2. also [in midair] Not settled; uncertain; undecided. •/Plans for the next meeting have been left up in the air until Jane gets better./ •/The result of the game was left hanging in midair because it rained before the finish./ Compare: LEAVE HANGING.
[up one’s alley] See: DOWN ONE’S ALLEY.
[up one’s sleeve] or [in one’s sleeve] {adv. phr.} 1. Hidden in the sleeve of one’s shirt or coat and ready for secret or wrongful use. •/The crooked gambler hid aces up his sleeve during the card game so that he would win./ 2. {informal} Kept secretly ready for the right time or for a time when needed. •/Jimmy knew that his father had some trick up his sleeve because he was smiling to himself during the checker game./ Compare: CARD UP ONE’S SLEEVE. 3. See: LAUGH UP ONE’S SLEEVE.
[upon oneself] See: TAKE ON ONESELF also TAKE UPON ONESELF.
[upon one’s head] See: ON ONE’S HEAD.
[upon the spot] See: ON THE SPOT(1).
[upper] See: KEEP A STIFF UPPER LIP, ON ONE’S UPPERS.
[upper crust]{n.}, {informal} The richest, most famous, or important people in a certain place; the highest class. •/It is a school that only the children of the upper crust can afford./
[upper hand] or [whip hand] {n.} Controlling power; advantage. •/In the third round the champion got the upper hand over his opponent and knocked him out./ •/The cowboy trained the wild horse so that he finally got the whip hand and tamed the horse./
[upper story]{n.} 1. A floor or level of a building above the first floor. •/The apartment house where Gene lives is five stories high and he lives in one of the upper stories./ 2. {slang} A person’s head or brain. •/Lulu has nobody home in the upper story./ •/Bill’s sister says he is weak in the upper story./
[Upsadaisy!] or [Upsee-daisy!] or [Upsy-daisy!] {adv. phr.} — A popular exclamation used when just about anything is lifted, particularly a small child raised to his or her highchair or bed. •/"Upsee-daisy!" the nurse said with a smile on her face, as she lifted the baby from its bed./
[ups and downs]{n. phr.} Vicissitudes; alternating periods between good and bad times; changes in fortune. •/He is now a wealthy stock trader, but at the beginning of his career he, too, had many ups and downs./
[upset the applecart] or [upset one’s applecart] {v. phr.}, {informal} To ruin a plan or what is being done, often by surprise or accident; change how things are or are being done, often unexpectedly; ruin or mix up another person’s success or plan for success. •/John upset the other team’s applecart by hitting a home run in the last inning and we won the game./ •/We are planning a surprise party for Bill, so don’t let Mary upset the applecart by telling him before the party./ •/Frank thinks he is going to be the boss, but I’ll upset his applecart the first chance I get./ Compare: ROCK THE BOAT.