user-upper

noun

Someone or something that uses up or exhausts quickly.

Meanings

nounuser-upper (plural user-uppers)

plural user-uppers

  1. informalSomeone or something that uses up or exhausts quickly.

    And when I've got leftover chicken, I often use this recipe as a first-stop user-upper, adding cold cooked shredded chicken to the pepper and onions and tossing altogether in the pan till piping hot all the way through.

    2015, Nigella Lawson, Nigella Kitchen
    1 more example

    I am trying to understand this idea of sustainability and I think it is connected very much to what Mr. Emmons is saying about staying put and encouraging people to become stewards and trustees of the land instead of user-uppers of the land.

    1994, United States. Congress. House. Committee on Natural Resources, The Changing Needs of the West, page 58
Cite this entry
APA

user-upper. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/user-upper

MLA

“user-upper.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/user-upper. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “user-upper,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/user-upper.

Source: user-upper on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.