up and away

adverb

Moving quickly and continuously upwards, often with a sense of joy or excitement.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

adverbup and away (comparative more up and away, superlative most up and away)

comparative more up and away · superlative most up and away

  1. idiomaticMoving quickly and continuously upwards, often with a sense of joy or excitement.

    He is not far on his way, and the Fates and the streams are against him. Up and away to-morrow, and through the red dew of the morning We will follow him fast, and bring him back to his prison.

    1847 November 1, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline, a Tale of Acadie, Boston, Mass.: William D. Ticknor & Company, →OCLC, (please specify either |part=I or II)
  2. aeronauticsOf retractable landing gear, retracted and stowed (put away), as contrasted with being down and locked (extended and secured for use).

Origin

The general sense is older. It is evident that the sense referring to landing gear synergizes with the sense referring to being aloft and soaring away: the gear being up and away accords with the aircraft and its crew and passengers being up and away.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

up and away. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/up%20and%20away

MLA

“up and away.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/up%20and%20away. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “up and away,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/up%20and%20away.

Source: up and away on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.