walk-up

[wawk-uhp]

See more synonyms for walk-up on Thesaurus.com

noun

an apartment above the ground floor in a building that has no elevator.
a building, especially an apartment house, that has no elevator.

adjective

located above the ground floor in a building that has no elevator.
having no elevator.
accessible to pedestrians from the outside of a building: a walk-up teller's window at a bank.

Origin of walk-up

1915–20, Americanism; noun, adj. use of verb phrase walk up

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for walk-up

lead-in, suite, tenement, condo, walk-up, flat, residence, cave, accommodation, penthouse, room, joint, pad, lodging, rental, co-op, coop, cooperative, dump

Examples from the Web for walk-up

Historical Examples of walk-up

The house in which Cassy lived was what is agreeably known as a walk-up.
The Paliser case
Edgar Saltus
Paliser got out, preceded Cassy to the steps of the walk-up and smiled in her face.
The Paliser case
Edgar Saltus
It had been arranged that the fallen star was to come to the walk-up and accompany Cassy to the Splendor.
The Paliser case
Edgar Saltus
In the sphere of life to which a walk-up leads, the charts were dotted with but the postman and the corner druggist.
The Paliser case
Edgar Saltus
The idea that it would lift him out of the walk-up, out of Harlem and cold veal, was the one excuse for her voyage to Cytherea.
The Paliser case
Edgar Saltus

British Dictionary definitions for walk-up

walk-up

noun

US and Canadian informal
1. a block of flats having no lift
2. (as modifier)a walk-up block

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

Word Origin and History for walk-up

adj.

in reference to an apartment not accessible by elevator, 1919, from the verbal phrase; see walk (v.) + up (adv.). As a noun from 1925.