cheek up

present singular third person cheeks up · participle present cheeking up · participle past cheeked up · past cheeked up

1. informaltransitiveTo act disrespectfully toward (someone).

   He hesitated for a moment before continuing, “But Reg was too cocky, way too cocky for his own good, and the way he cheeked up the governor on that morning before the execution only served to dig his own grave, as it were.

   2016 April 5, Ralph Spurrier, A Coin for the Hangman, Bookline & Thinker, →ISBN

   1 more example

   An 'uncle' later offered the young Horatio a position in his solicitor's practice but the stupid boy cheeked up his employer instead of apologizing after making a mistake and informed him that, 'To err is human, but to forgive is divine'.

   2015 02, Yvalanna Gregory, Marjie - The true story of an Edwardian girl, ShieldCrest, →ISBN, page 19

   Synonyms: cheek up to