upper

comparative rare uppermore · superlative uppermost

1. At a higher physical position, level, rank or order.
2. Situated on higher ground, further inland, more upstream, or more northerly.
3. geographyYounger, more recent.
4. educationOf or pertaining to a secondary school.

plural uppers

1. A stimulant, such as amphetamine, that increases energy and decreases appetite.

   Eye Girl is very moody. She is always zooted up on some really foul combination of uppers and downers and Rollerblading. Her bouts of Rollerblading seem to coincide with fights with Eye Guy.

   1997, Maggie Estep, Diary of an Emotional Idiot: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: Harmony Books, →ISBN, page 6

   1 more example

   Say, for example, a person starts with the use of a downer that reduces any anxiety and produces a sense of relaxation. When their energy levels drop, they take a stimulant in order to continue participating in the party or another event. This creates a cycle that could lead to significant drug use and drastically increases the risk of overdose or death. It is critical to know which drugs are uppers and downers to avoid this combination.

   2024 April 10 [2020 August 27], Nick B., “Which Drugs Are Uppers And Downers?”, in The Freedom Center, archived from the original on 21 Feb 2025

   Antonyms: downer

   1. Anything that cheers one up.

      1 more example

      1977-1980, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure Patrick was a cabbie & a dispatcher at Yellow Cab & when we got to the church where the [funeral] services were being held, the cabbies came out in force for Pat & there were at least 30 cabs pulling into the church parking lot. It was a real upper for a lot of us.

      Antonyms: downer

2. The upper portion of something.

   These lines, GH and PC, are cut when the outline of the upper is cut out.

   2012, Reginald Laubin, Gladys Laubin, The Indian Tipi: Its History, Construction, and Use

   1 more example

   The slewing ring is basically a large bearing upon which the upper is mounted. The outer race of the slewing ring is bolted to the upper, and the inner race is bolted to the car-body.

   1992, Organizational, Direct Support, and General Support, page 5

   1. shoemakingThe piece of material that forms the top part of a shoe or boot above the sole.

      Holonyms: shoe, boot

      2 more examples

      genuine leather upper / balance manmade [label on a shoe]

      The uppers of his patent-leather shoes were hidden by fawn spats.

      1930, Dashiell Hammett, chapter 4, in The Maltese Falcon, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, page 52

   2. footwearThe Y-shaped strap on flip-flops.
3. Someone with higher social standing

   Thus a vicious circle is established: the uppers offer participation, and the lowers, feeling persecuted, withdraw.

   1993, Larry Hirschhorn, Carole K. Barnett, The Psychodynamics of Organizations

   1. A senior student.

      Each Upper had his private Fag; but general fagdom consisted of obedience to the demand of every Upper, no matter in whose House he happened to be.

      1895, Edward Parry Eardley-Wilmot, E. C. Streatfield, Charterhouse, page 64

      1 more example

      It is advisable, for example, to learn the words to the school loyalty and to “Fair Harvard” in the event that you are “asked” to give an impromptu “concert” in the Yard for the benefit of the Uppers.

      2016, The Best of the Harvard Lampoon: 140 Years of American Humor

4. That which is higher, contrasted with the lower.

   Next, take up slack equally on the two uppers until they are snug.

   1984, Robert Forrest Burgess, Handbook of trailer sailing, page 90

   2 more examples

   During the seventh week, the limbs also rotate laterally in the uppers and medially in the lowers.

   2009, Michael A. Alexander, Dennis J. Matthews, Pediatric Rehabilitation: Principles & Practice, page 361

   In this compact middle level between the uppers and the lowers, I actually had a counter in front of me, where food or drink could be safely planted, without fear of knocking over onto any patrons sitting in the seats below me.

   2010, Thomas Porky McDonald, Poet in the Grandstand

   1. A tooth in the upper jaw.

      Periodically check the bite with the uppers and lowers to ensure that your actor's mouth will close correctly.

      2012, Todd Debreceni, Special Make-up Effects for Stage & Screen

      3 more examples

      In the lingualized type of occlusion, contact of the lingual cusps of the uppers against the semianatomic teeth on the lowers will be seen in lateral, protrusive, and eccentric movements.

      2009, Arun K. Garg, Implant Dentistry, page 165

      These reentrant folds, especially those on the buccal side of the uppers and the lingual side of the lowers, are quickly isolated by wear into infundibula within lakes of dentin.

      2010, Peter S. Ungar, Mammal Teeth: Origin, Evolution, and Diversity, page 212

      Considering the badly decayed condition of the Chief's other teeth, I recommended removal of what remained of the uppers, followed by a “full plate” after healing.

      2014, Jake Jacobson, Alaska Tales: Laughs and Surprises

   2. A denture or retainer for the teeth in the upper jaw.

      The upper was retained with a Hawley bite plane; the lip bumper was continued for an additional 18 months.

      2010, David R. Avery, Ralph E. McDonald, Jeffrey A. Dean, McDonald and Avery Dentistry for the Child and Adolescent

      2 more examples

      Treatment was continued until November, 1909, when a retainer was placed in position in the lower, consisting of bands round the lower first molars and a wire passing lingually round all the teeth. The upper was retained by means of a plate with wires wires passing behind the upper first molars and round in front of all the teeth.

      1912, Dental Record

      The lower (according to the patient) was perfect, but the upper was bad, and the dentist was going to make the upper again.

      1941, Cal - Volumes 4-6, page 6

   3. An upper berth or bunk.

      Twelve lowers and twelve uppers and three beds in the drawing rooms.

      2011, Studs Terkel, Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression

      4 more examples

      The Railroad Company further averred that it operated sleeping cars over its system of more than 7,000 miles of interstate roads, and that the Interstate Commerce Commission had prescribed rates for each of said sleeping car units on trains running to and from the state of Wisconsin. The rate fixed for the upper was 80 per cent. of the charge for the use of the lower; the price for the whole section beting the sum of the two rates.

      1926, United States. Supreme Court, United States Supreme Court Reports - Volume 59, page 1423

      But trains have changed. Gone are the uppers and lowers, partitions and cranks, and the green velour; only the porter remains, the same man, I think, a black man with palms the color of shrimp and a neck swollen with dislike.

      2011, Walker Percy, The Moviegoer

      Of course I naturally I asked why, but all the satisfaction I got for the time being was that the upper was good enough for me, and that it was a pretty good place in which to sleep, anyway.

      1914, Illinois Central Magazine - Volume 3, Issues 1-11, page 91

      The uppers were reached by comfortably safe steps with handrails and slip proof coatings.

      2016, Constance R. Pottenger, Drop Dead Casino - Ginger The First, page 31

5. TaoismA spiritual passageway through which consciousness can reach a higher dimension.

   The 'upper' is one of nine apertures through which consciousness can leave the body at death (utkrantih).

   2005, Shingo Einoo, Genesis and Development of Tantra, page 128

   2 more examples

   When the Tao Te Ching says: “In thought, you can see the cavity,” it is referring to what the Triplex Unity describes as “When the upper is closed, we call it existence; when the lower is closed, we call it nothingness.”

   2005, Holding Yin, Embracing Yang

   It is said in Tibetan culture, in order to understand the upper, it is necessary to understand the lower first. Once, the lower is understood, the upper is just an introductory.

   2010, Tenzin Dhakpa Agongtsang, Realistic Principles, Pittsburgh, PA: RoseDog Books, page 10

present singular third person uppers · participle present uppering · participle past uppered · past uppered

1. rareTo fix an upper onto a shoe.

   No, that is where the job rating comes in. For example, the job of uppering the shoe, which is placing the gum upper on the last, carries a much higher rate than that of wiping the soapstone off the upper.

   1935, Douglas Gordon, “The Problems of a Major Methods Change as Seen by a Methods Man”, in Personnel Series, volume 17, American Management Association

2. nonstandardTo raise.

   Then, when a galaxy is forming and gets its relatively small black hole, it becomes responsible for uppering the amount of dark matter closer to the centre

   2006 February 22, Hans Aberg, “Dark matter: hot and fast?”, in sci.astro.research (Usenet)