up

The basic definition of “up” is “toward a higher place or position.” But it would be very difficult to define in all the ways it’s used: adverb, preposition, adjective, noun, or verb.     

Examples of how we use “up”:

—we wake up in the morning (and bed down at night)

—we speak up (or talk down)           

—we bring up a topic at a meeting

—officers are up for election 

—a speech may take up to an hour

—it’s up to the secretary to write up a report  

—we call up our friends

—we brighten up a room

—we polish up the silver and clean up the kitchen

—we warm up the leftovers

—we lock up the house

—we fix up the old  car             

—we stir up trouble

—we line up for tickets 

—we sign up for a course

—we work up an appetite

—we think up excuses             

—we dress up (and dress down)

—a drain gets stopped up, so must be opened up

—we open up a store in the morning, and close it up at night  

—sometimes we’re mixed up, then things clear up          

—we look up information (and write it down)

—a word may have up to thirty definitions  

—we write up a list, which may take up a lot of time          

—sometimes we’re up to it, sometimes not       

—some people never give up

—we may wind up with many goals                

—it’s clouding up or clearing up   

—the earth soaks up water until things dry up           

—people crack up over good jokes              

—we mess up, then we tidy up

—we also screw up, then we ‘fess up

—what you do is up to you, but 

My time is up, so I’ll wrap this up and shut up.