all up


Defeated; also, near death. For example, The home team knew it was all up when their star quarterback was injured, or The party lost their way over a week ago and in this subzero weather I'm sure it's all up with them. This idiom uses up in the sense of “finished.” [Early 1700s] Also see all over, def. 4.

Words Nearby all up

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

How to use all up in a sentence

  • Eneas slipped him into a free-for-all up here and him and a strange white man about busted the county.

    Eneas Africanus | Harry Stillwell Edwards
  • "They-all up yonder in that school where you was at hain't got much sense, it looks like to me," was her comment.

    The Quickening | Francis Lynde
  • Ah'm goin' t' fetch the loot'nant, an' Ah'm goin' t' git the feller that shot you-all up if Ah kin kotch him.

  • We-all up here ain't going to stand for any preaching business.

    Joyce of the North Woods | Harriet T. Comstock
  • I gets word about you-all up in Vegas, an' allows I'll come trundlin' down yere an' size you up.

    Faro Nell and Her Friends | Alfred Henry Lewis