Transcription
-
- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
-
- [uhp and doun]
- /ʌp ænd daʊn/
- /ʌp ənd daʊn/
-
- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
-
- [uhp and doun]
- /ʌp ænd daʊn/
Definitions of up-and-down word
- adjective up-and-down moving alternately up and down: the up-and-down swing of levers; an up-and-down tune. 1
- adjective up-and-down having an uneven surface: up-and-down countryside. 1
- adjective up-and-down changeable: up-and-down luck. 1
- adjective up-and-down perpendicular or nearly so: a straight up-and-down hillside. 1
- adjective up-and-down moving up and down 1
Information block about the term
Origin of up-and-down
First appearance:
before 1610 One of the 40% oldest English words
First recorded in 1610-20
Historical Comparancy
Parts of speech for Up-and-down
noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
up-and-down popularity
A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 34% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.
According to our data about 68% of words is more used. This is a rare but used term. It occurs in the pages of specialized literature and in the speech of educated people.
Synonyms for up-and-down
adj up-and-down
- bolt upright — If someone is sitting or standing bolt upright, they are sitting or standing very straight.
- flipper — a broad, flat limb, as of a seal or whale, especially adapted for swimming.
- hot and cold — (Idiomatic) Ambivalent; having conflicting emotions.
- impulsive — actuated or swayed by emotional or involuntary impulses: an impulsive child.
- mercurial — changeable; volatile; fickle; flighty; erratic: a mercurial nature.
adjective up-and-down
- checkered — having a pattern of squares
- chequered — If a person or organization has had a chequered career or history, they have had a varied past with both good and bad periods.
- quicksilver — the metallic element mercury.
- yoyo — a spoollike toy consisting of two thick wooden, plastic, or metal disks connected by a dowel pin in the center to which a string is attached, one end being looped around the player's finger so that the toy can be spun out and reeled in by wrist motion.
See also
Matching words
- Words starting with u
- Words starting with up
- Words starting with upa
- Words starting with upan
- Words starting with upand
- Words starting with upandd
- Words starting with upanddo
- Words starting with upanddow
- Words starting with upanddown