upon

American  

[uh-pon, uh-pawn] / əˈpɒn, əˈpɔn /

preposition

1. up and on; upward so as to get or be on.

   He climbed upon his horse and rode off.

2. in an elevated position on.

   There is a television antenna upon every house in the neighborhood.

3. in or into complete or approximate contact with, as an attacker or an important or pressing occasion.

   The enemy was upon us and our soldiers had little time to escape. The Christmas holiday will soon be upon us and we have hardly begun to buy gifts. The time to take action is upon us.

4. immediately or very soon after.

   She went into mourning upon her husband's death.

5. on the occasion of.

   She was joyful upon seeing her child take his first steps.

6. on (in any of various senses, used as an equivalent of on with no added idea of ascent or elevation, and preferred in certain cases only for euphonic or metrical reasons).

   He swore upon his honor as a gentleman.

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upon British  

/ əˈpɒn /

preposition

1. another word for on

2. indicating a position reached by going up

   climb upon my knee

3. imminent for

   the weekend was upon us again

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upon Idioms  

1. see act on (upon); call on (upon); chance on (upon); come across (upon); come on (upon); count on (upon); dawn on (upon); dwell on (upon); enter on (upon); fall back on (upon); fall on (upon); grow on (upon); hard on (upon); hit on (upon); incumbent upon; light on (upon); once upon a time; pitch on (upon); play on (upon); put upon; seize on (upon); set at (upon); take it upon oneself; wait on (upon); weigh on (upon); work on (upon).

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Etymology

Origin of upon

First recorded in 1150–1200; Middle English; up (adverb) + on (preposition)

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

upon

Melting snow provides water for the river, which is relied upon by more than 40 million people across seven U.S. states, tribal nations and Mexico.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

Either show up on time or do it upon your return, after you get settled.

From Salon ● Oct. 16, 2026

The senators also say they are "deeply concerned" by reports of disruptions or "glitches" affecting intelligence-sharing and threat-warning capabilities relied upon by personnel operating in Ukraine.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

The IEA said Thursday that the volume of emergency oil stocks being released by member countries would exceed the 400 million barrels agreed upon in March.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

I had known from childhood that the earth opened and the heavens rained fire upon liars, but I met his gaze.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

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