Meanings
- idiomaticslangVigorously launched or launching into an activity.
I padded downstairs to find everyone up and at 'em, their day leaps ahead of mine.
2011 September 9, Andrea Sachs, “Bed Check: Mountain dreamin’ in W. Va.”, in Washington Post, retrieved 29 May 20153 more examples
At 41, Jockey Richards was still up and at 'em last week, and his wrists and knees were still persuasive enough to boot home the winner in Newmarket's Icklingham Stakes.
1945 November 12, “Sport: Stretch Drive”, in Time, retrieved 29 May 2015[O]nly two alternative responses seem available: irrepressible up-and-at-'em chirpiness or apocalyptic hysteria.
2002 September 15, Simon Schama, “A Whiff of Dread for the Land of Hope”, in New York Times, retrieved 29 May 2015Siddle is the sort of up-and-at-'em, tearaway fast bowler whom you imagine to train on raw red meat while running over a bed of hot coals.
2013 November 18, Stephen Brenkley, “Peter Siddle hungry to leave some banana skins in England's path”, in Independent, UK, retrieved 29 May 2015
Synonyms & antonyms
Cite this entry
up and at 'em. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/up%20and%20at%20'em
“up and at 'em.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/up%20and%20at%20'em. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “up and at 'em,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/up%20and%20at%20'em.
Source: up and at 'em on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.