upper story

Idioms  

1. The head or brain, as in He's not all there in the upper story. This expression transfers the literal sense of a higher floor in a multistory building to the top portion of the human body. Richard Bentley used it in A Dissertation on the Epistles of Phalaris (1699), where he compares a man with “brains ... in his head” to a man who has “furniture in his upper story.”

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

upper story

He shared a photo of a person holding a light in the window of a damaged upper story, where the whole face of the building had been shorn off.

From New York Times ● Jan. 14, 2023

One, a clapboard building whose upper story was gutted by fire, appeared on a recent afternoon to still be inhabited, although it was unclear who was inside.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2021

One sight during the flood: a handmade, white flag hung from an upper story of a Main Street building bearing the letters SOS.

From Seattle Times ● May 27, 2018

A crew from Shepler Construction has prepared the upper story for a new metal roof.

From Washington Times ● Oct. 21, 2014

There being no chimney in the warehouse, we were obliged to open a window at the upper story to release the smoke, which also swiftly draws out the warmth.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson

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Related Words

• head
• intellect
• mind

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