stickup

or stick-up

[ stik-uhp ]
See synonyms for stickup on Thesaurus.com
nounInformal.
  1. a holdup; robbery.

Origin of stickup

1
First recorded in 1855–60; noun use of verb phrase stick up

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use stickup in a sentence

  • Mr. McSweeney had the bad taste to try to stick up our local drug emporium about half an hour ago.

  • I told them it was caddish to insult a fallen foe, but they would go and stick up those beastly notices.'

    The Talking Horse | F. Anstey
  • And this particular chief—to name no names—is quite knowing enough to get hold of a lawyer to stick up for him.

    Forging the Blades | Bertram Mitford
  • I was beyond caring anymore, but I felt like if Mom was going to stick up for me, I should help her out.

    Little Brother | Cory Doctorow
  • "Dog's-Ear" shirt-collars (the ones that stick up and are doubled down at the points,) are coming into fashion.

British Dictionary definitions for stick-up

stick-up

noun
  1. slang, mainly US a robbery at gunpoint; hold-up

verbstick up (adverb)
  1. (tr) slang, mainly US to rob, esp at gunpoint

  2. (intr foll by for) informal to support or defend: stick up for oneself

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with stickup

stickup

Project from a surface, as in That little cowlick of his sticks up no matter what you do. [Early 1400s]

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