up-and-down

[ uhp-uhn-doun ]

/ ˈʌp ənˈdaʊn /

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See synonyms for up-and-down on Thesaurus.com

adjective

moving alternately up and down: the up-and-down swing of levers; an up-and-down tune.

having an uneven surface: up-and-down countryside.

changeable: up-and-down luck.

perpendicular or nearly so: a straight up-and-down hillside.

QUIZ

THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?

Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.

Question 1 of 7

In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

candystring

candyfloss

candypuff

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Origin of up-and-down

First recorded in 1610–20

OTHER WORDS FROM up-and-down

up-and-downness, noun

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

How to use up-and-down in a sentence

Did you share his feelings about the up-and-down fourth season of the show?
Alison Brie on ‘Community’s’ New Beginning, Dan Harmon’s Return, Nicolas Cage, and More|Marlow Stern|January 3, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The piece consists of two classic oil pumps, doing their usual up-and-down amid the passing tourists and New Yorkers.
There's Art in That There Oil|Blake Gopnik|March 7, 2012|DAILY BEAST
So you might have assumed that it would have been a straight “up-and-down” clean vote for McCain-Palin and repair to the bar.
Electing a Punch Line|Christopher Buckley|October 20, 2008|DAILY BEAST
We had no more than got fairly between the straight-up-and-down walls of it than Piegan halted us with a warning hand.
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. Sinclair

It was five minutes to three, and there were fifty miles of caon and up-and-down trail over the divide to be covered.
Motor Matt's "Century" Run|Stanley R. Matthews
"There iss no wrong time for seeing friends," Belle replied, in an up-and-down and very musical Welsh accent.
Mushroom Town|Oliver Onions
If you chop on a board steady the point of a knife with one hand and use an up-and-down motion with the other hand.
A Course of Lectures on the Principles of Domestic Economy and Cookery|Juliet Corson
A single up-and-down purring note replied from the bushes on her right.
Novice|James H. Schmitz

British Dictionary definitions for up-and-down

up-and-down

adjective

moving, executed, or formed alternately upwards and downwards

mainly US very steep; vertical

adverb, preposition up and down

backwards and forwards (along)

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

up-and-down

Origin of up-and-down

OTHER WORDS FROM up-and-down

Words related to up-and-down

How to use up-and-down in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for up-and-down