upstream
Americanadverb
adjective
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directed upstream; situated upstream.
an upstream journey; an upstream hideout.
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Commerce. of or relating to the early stages in the operations of a business or industry, as exploration and production in the oil business (opposed to downstream).
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against or opposite to the direction of transcription, translation, or synthesis of a DNA, RNA, or protein molecule.
adverb
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in or towards the higher part of a stream; against the current
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(in the oil industry) of or for any of the stages prior to oil production, such as exploration or research Compare downstream
Etymology
Origin of upstream
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Rescuers took photos of some of the bodies that had been carried more than 100 miles from the upstream areas most affected by the flood and posted them at the hospital.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
The century-old agreement requires the water released from upstream dams for Arizona, Nevada and California to average at least 7.5 million acre-feet over any decade, plus an allotment for Mexico.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
Officials channeled water into Powell from an upstream reservoir and cut planned releases from the lake by 20%.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
Recent surveys found signs that water voles had established themselves both upstream and downstream of the original release site.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
There are high bluffs just upstream, but our site has a sandy shoreline along the river.
From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
