up
Preserved but no longer current.
"to be UP to a thing or two," to be knowing, or understanding; "to put a man UP to a move," to teach him a trick; "it’s all UP with him," i.e., it is all over with him; when pronounced U.P., naming the two letters separately, means settled, or done UP. "UP a tree," see TREE.
Era: ca. 1874 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Historical definition reproduced from Hotten’s The Slang Dictionary (1874, public domain; Project Gutenberg #42108, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “up” mean?
"to be UP to a thing or two," to be knowing, or understanding; "to put a man UP to a move," to teach him a trick; "it’s all UP with him," i.e., it is all over with him; when pronounced U.P., naming the two letters separately, means settled, or done UP. "UP a tree," see TREE.
Is “up” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.